Words from the Rock
You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 15:14–15 NASB
Do you realize the enormity of being called God’s friends? Before Jesus came to earth to show us God’s love, people felt distanced from God. The idea of being intimate with God, actually being considered his friend, was more far-fetched than expecting the president of the United States to invite you to dinner with the first family. It was like there was an insurmountable wall between people and God.
In fact, there was a huge curtain that hung in the temple where people gathered to worship God. These multiple layers of draperies were thick and heavy (like a wall) and were designed to separate God from his worshipers. This curtain symbolized a division—God on one side and the people on the other. After Jesus died on the cross, this thick curtain was miraculously split open from top to bottom to show that the wall dividing God from man was gone.
Jesus doesn’t want anything to come between you and God. He wants to be your closest friend. Think about the kind of relationship that best friends have. Don’t they usually tell each other everything? Don’t they share secrets and confessions? In the same way, Jesus promises that as your intimate friend, he will tell you everything God has told him. No secrets. Full disclosure. Naturally, he expects you to be open and honest like that with him, because that’s what friends do.
My Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for being my friend. Help me to be a better friend to you and not hold anything back, because I know I can trust you with all my secrets.
Amen.
Final Word
You are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done.
1 Peter 2:9 CEV
Stone for the Journey
When I’m God’s friend, he shows me what I need to know.