“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15: 14 KJV).
For a person to know and experience a friendship, they must first make friends. And to make friends, one must be friendly — “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly” (Pro. 18: 24). A person is friendly when they show their ability to attach themselves to another with the same or very similar sentiments of affections for similar likes and dislikes. God chose our family, but He lets us choose our friends. And because friends can be the reason for our uprisings and our down fallings we must choose our friends wisely.
The Psalmist said, “I am a companion (friend) of all them that fear thee (God), and of them that keep thy precepts” (Ps. 119: 63).
Friendship is an active, ongoing, growing, reciprocation relationship that we have with our friends. True friends have an input into our lives.
A true friend cares about us and loves us to the very end — “A friend loveth at all times” (Pro. 17: 17). A true friend will stick with us when our own brother forsakes us — “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Pro. 18: 24). A true friend would rather wound us with their scathing rebuke than to lose us to some sinful habit — “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Pro. 27: 6). And a true friend will carry us and our needs in prayer before the Father.
King David had Hushai as his friend (2 Sam. 15: 37; 16: 16), and King Solomon had Zabud as his friend (1 Kings 4: 5).
Two men in the Bible were called the “friend of God.” One was Abraham (2 Chron. 20: 7; James 2: 23), and the other was Moses (Ex. 33: 11). Jesus called His disciples His friends (John 15: 15).
God offers His friendship to man. But His offer is only to the saved man. The conditions for His friendship are obedience to His Word, and no lost man can meet those conditions. And since a friendship is a reciprocating relationship, the lost cannot have this friendship because they are dead spiritually (Eph. 2: 1) and you can’t have friendship with a dead man. It’s been said that Jesus is the friend of sinners. But this statement didn’t originate with Jesus. He was quoting what the Pharisees had said — “and they say” (Mat. 11: 19). And they said it because Jesus acted friendly toward the sinner in order to win them to Himself.
This friendship with God is only possible for the saved because they have the nature and Spirit of Christ, which is the Spirit of obedience dwelling within them (2 Peter 1: 4).
Friendship or we might say fellowship with Jesus is experienced as we walk in obedience to His word. We in this friendship submit to him as our Lord and give Him our loyalty, service, and obedience, and He, as our Friend in return, gives us His many blessings.
It’s difficult to be the friend of God in this life where the world is constantly plying for us to be her friend , and if we become a friend of the world, we would become the enemy of God (James. 4: 4).
Are you a friend of God?
