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For the Love of Friends

“A friend loves at all times.” —Proverbs 17:17

Who do you call, “friend”? Think about it for a moment. Is it the one who keeps a confidence for you? Those willing to drop everything and “be there” for you? The listener who does not condemn? We all have a “friend” category, and consciously or not, it often has a reciprocity about it: treat me as your friend, and I’ll regard you as my friend. Then by contrast, consider the three times Jesus addressed someone as “Friend”—twice through parable illustrations and once in real life. Who were they? The first was an ungrateful worker who grumbled at receiving an agreed-upon wage. “Friend, I am doing you no wrong,”1 replied the hiring foreman. Next was a presumptuous one, crashing a wedding party. “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?”2 asked the host. And the real-life scenario? It was to Judas in the act of betrayal that Jesus said, “Friend, do what you came to do.”3

In a recent post, I concluded that, “If in death I will see Jesus face to face, I’d do well to open wide my relationship with Him right now.” I went on to say that, for me, drawing closer to Him means, among other things, “Trust His love.” For love is the very nature of God, as John stated so plainly: “God is love.”4 God not only speaks His love through reassuring words, He also demonstrates His love through promise-keeping deeds. John continues: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”5 Then God’s love for us does not depend on our human notion of goodness, nor does it vacillate with our faulty version of faithfulness. He loves us “with an everlasting love,”6 and this despite ourselves—“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”7

This love cannot be exceeded, and it is ours, for “Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.”8 This love liberates us today without fear of tomorrow. This is love we can trust, love we can live, love we can give. Forever.

We confess with Paul …
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”9 Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us as friends. Amen.

1 Read Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the laborers.
2 Read Matthew 22:1-14, the parable of the wedding feast.
3 Read Matthew 26:47-50, an account of Jesus’ betrayal.
4 1 John 4:8
5 1 John 4:9
6 Jeremiah 31:3
7 Romans 5:8
8 John 15:13 NASB
9 Romans 8:38-39

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A Friend in High Places

So the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. —Exodus 33:11 NASB

My mother and I were fondly recalling my father, who had passed away two decades prior. “In the last year or so of his life,” Mom said, “he would refer to Jesus as his ‘friend.’ At the time I thought he was nuts, but I’ve since come to understand what he meant.” We chuckled over the story, a slice-of-life peek into the past, and a highly relatable one, for God continually draws us closer to Himself. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you,”1 wrote James to early believers. And though Jesus reigns as Savior and Lord, He defines our relationship in still broader and more intimate terms. “I have called you friends,” He said to His disciples, “for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”2 Friends with Jesus—sit peaceably with this. Soak it in, for this is who we are.

In last week’s post, I shared my growing realization that “If in death I will see Jesus face to face, I’d do well to open wide my relationship with Him right now.” This included, among other things, talking with Him more. “Pray much. Pray boldly.” Then how better to talk to a friend than as a friend? Of our relationship with God, Paul writes, “In [Christ Jesus our Lord] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”3 Isn’t this an invitation to open conversation between friends? For true friends relate to each other not in capitulation to fear, but in freedom from fear; the more earnestly friends care, the more honestly we share. And no one cares more earnestly than Jesus; He has proved it by laying down His life for us, and by raising up our life with Him.

So we pray boldly, not because we’re so great in ourselves, but because God himself is so good. He draws us deeper into relationship through honest conversation. “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.”4 He speaks to us, as well, just as He promised Jeremiah— “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”5 Then just as God listens, and just as He speaks, so also does He act. Writes John, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”6 Speak, listen, and act—this is what friends do, and Jesus is our friend. He has made us His, as well.

Jesus, thank You for calling us, “friends.” Help us to receive and flourish in such grace, that we would joyfully engage with You who loves us so well. Amen.

1 James 4:8
2 John 15:15
3 Ephesians 3:11-12 NIV
4 1 Peter 3:12
5 Jeremiah 33:3
6 1 John 5:16-17

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Taking Our Destiny to Heart

Peggy and I attended a funeral last Friday. It was a celebration of one whose eternal life began years ago upon hearing and receiving the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. His new life in Christ was a fruitful one, for he eagerly shared the gospel as opportunities presented, and diligently interceded for the needs of others. His death in Christ marked his continuation in Christ, and his funeral testified to the faithfulness of Christ in his life. He could have just as easily uttered these familiar words of the apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”1 Having once lived by faith, our friend now lives by sight.

“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart,”2 observed Solomon. His words may sound a bit macabre, but I have to agree with Israel’s king, for in the “house of mourning” we see the larger picture of life. Our fondest family memories and our deepest relational regrets, they surface here most clearly. While we rejoice in our loved one’s release from suffering, we suffer a newfound pain of our own. And amid the assorted pictures of the past and the widely ranging emotions in the present, the house of mourning points forward to our destiny. The reality of where we are going meets us right where we are, and taking it to heart is a highly individual thing. During our friend’s funeral, I found myself thinking, “If in death I will see Jesus face to face, I’d do well to open wide my relationship with Him right now.” What does this look like to me? Pray much. Pray boldly. Trust His love. Read His Word. Hear His voice. Obey His instruction. Enjoy His presence.

Then where does “taking this destiny to heart” lead you? Are you uncertain about your salvation? Now is the time to receive and rest in this gift the Father offers you through the death and resurrection of His Son. Still struggling with past sins? Let the Word speak forgiveness to you. Are you searching for your Kingdom purpose here on earth? Seek the Spirit and follow Him into the “good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”3 Take your destiny to heart: align your life today with your ultimate tomorrow. And rejoice, for in Christ, life continues beyond death’s door.

Father, in truth, keep us mindful that our destiny awaits us; in love, lead us in purposeful and effective lives; in grace, keep us in Christ, who has been raised to life forever. In Him we pray. Amen.

1 Galatians 2:20
2 Ecclesiastes 7:2 NIV
3 Ephesians 2:10