A little while back, I received a text message from my friend Peg. I met Peg when she volunteered at a camp where I was a volunteer coordinator. Throughout the week we became acquainted and after her departure we kept in touch and have built a friendship.
After receiving her text message, I started to think about relationships, and friendships especially, and how they grow into something quite special. Some friendships seem so effortless and some require more attention in the beginning and as they grow the dynamic changes. Conversations that once felt awkward become very natural. The more you know about someone and the more they know about you the more natural and comfortable the conversations become. Deep friendships can be sustained even over time and distance, differences of opinion and life distractions.
Jesus was a friend.
Jesus spent time with His disciples and showed genuine interest in their lives.
John 12: 1-3 shares of Jesus joining Lazarus, Mary, and Martha for dinner in their home.
In John, chapter 15, He confided in His disciples – sharing His teachings and insights. He was teaching about the true vine and preparing them for the hatred the world would show to them.
The Pharisees complained about how he ate with sinners and tax collectors as related in the 15th chapter of Luke. But Jesus was accepting of everyone – even those on the margins of society – he showed compassion and extended forgiveness to those who sought it.
In John, chapter 11, the scripture shares His offering of comfort and support when He raised Lazarus from the dead.
And as our Savior, Jesus demonstrated the ultimate act of friendship…
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13
As His time with His disciples was coming to a close, He told of a helper that would be with them forever. God longs for a relationship – a friendship with His people. Through the Holy Spirit we have that continual connection with God. He wants to guide us, to speak to us, to do life with us.
John 14: 16-17 says, “And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Dwelling inside of us is the same spirit who authored scripture, raised Christ from the dead, empowered the disciples and hovered over the water at the creation of all things.
God’s Word tells us how He longs to help us and to have a relationship with us. How incredible is that Grace?! – to not only send His son to die on a cross so that we could have abundant life for all eternity, including today, but also to send a helper.
So how do we grow that relationship with God, the Father and Christ, His son through the Holy Spirit?
The answer is – like any other relationship – with respect, love and time, by learning His likes and dislikes, apologizing when we do something that hurts Him. He wants to guide us away from sin and distraction and into a closer walk with Him. He wants us to spend time in prayer and reading His Word so He can reveal the reality of His presence in our lives!
Just as we get to know more about our friends as time progresses in a friendship, we gain knowledge of who God is and His love for us, He wants us know Him.
“No longer do I call you servants for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you.”
John 15:15
There is still mystery, though – even as much as we can possibly learn of our Father in Heaven, we can never fully understand everything about Him. Even as I grow closer to God and Jesus, my Savior, I can only imagine what that day holds when I meet Him face to face.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for laying the foundation for our relationship. I can only love you because you loved me first. Help me to understand who you are and the life that you want for me – serving you. Thank you for your compassion and your forgiveness and for ever drawing me closer to you. Amen.
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