Sunday Sermonettes #031
Who is your best friend? Surely good moments you had together and memories might flood your mind even as you think of him or her. What if Jesus is your best friend. It is possible. For Jesus told his disciples, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15).
#1. Love
The first thing about friendship is love. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). When he bled on the cross he showed the full extent of his love for all he called friends. And those stretched out hands on the cross is welcoming you to be friends with him.
#2. No Secrets
The second thing about friendship is that there are no secrets between friends. Jesus said, “I have told you everything the Father told me” (John 15:15). Jesus took time to be with his disciples telling them about the kingdom of heaven and what the future is going to be. You too can have intimate friendship with Jesus. Tell him everything—your good and shameful thoughts, your worries and anxieties, and your desires, both good and bad. This habit will bring you closer to Jesus.
#3. No Barriers
The third thing about friendship is that there are no barriers separating friends. When it comes to friendship with God; the separation comes only because of sin. God forgives all your sins through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. You need to turn away from what is not pleasing to God and ask him to cleanse you through his blood. Then the dividing wall will come down and there can be continual friendship with God.
#4. Quality Time Together
The fourth thing about friendship is that friends invest time to build the relationship. Friendship grows over time. It happens through a lot of conversations, sharing, and caring for each other. Sometimes we neglect this principle when it comes to God. Do you give him quality time? The kind of time you spend with God and the time you spend on social media: Which is more important to you?
#5. Desiring the Best
The fifth thing about friendship is that it is desiring the best for the other. Surely, God desires the best for you. Our friendship with God is often strained when life doesn’t go as we hoped. When our plans don’t work out, we might miss this truth: God could be redirecting us. He might be trying to get our attention to lead us toward something better that he has lovingly kept in store for us.
#6. Access
Now think about this. What if you were friends with the President or Prime Minister of your country? How privileged you might feel? What if you had the freedom to speak to them over phone any time of the day or night 24 x 7? That might not be practically possible. But when Jesus says, “I call you my friend,” you have absolutely continual and unrestrained access to God through the blood of his cross.
#7. Guard Your Friendship
Finally, good friendships are about jealousy too. You guard your friendships; don’t you? Likewise, the Bible also warns against things that destroy friendship with God.
James, a brother of Jesus wrote: “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4 NIV)
John, another friend of Jesus, wrote, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15, 16 Berean Standard Bible).
Yes, to safeguard friendship with God, you must say NO, jealously, to every distraction.
Featured image courtesy: Image by kp yamu Jayanath from Pixabay | Fotor