John 15:14-15- 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Are we friends of Jesus?
Who are our friends?
Friends are people you have a relationship with. You can have a distant relationship with a friend if at one time you were close and hung out together. However, how close are those relationships when you don’t have that opportunity to converse or be together as you go along?
Many people have this kind of relationship with the Lord. They got close for awhile but then they slip away. The reason people slip away from their friendship with the Lord is usually chasing after things that are adverse to Him. They are things of the world that have nothing to do with our Lord.
It is so easy to slip back into old habitats that take you away from the Lord. We must do the things that keep us close. We need to take the time. Close relationships take the extra time and effort.
Jesus says you are my friends if you do what I command.
We are created for a loving relationship with the Lord. We were not created to be selfish little Gods destined to chase after our own little selfish pleasures and lifestyle. The Bible makes that quite clear and you won’t get very far in the New Testament without a reminder or warning.
Matthew 12:46-50 – 46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Strong words from Jesus but they were to make a point, not to be disrespectful.
The family of Jesus and the friend of Jesus is the one who does the will of the Father. Also those
who do what He commands, because the Son and the Father are one.
Actions speak louder than words. It works that way for us all. If a spouse tells us they love us all the time and then go out and cheat, the love isn’t very sincere. However, if that spouse shows constant love to the other and says nothing, it is much more sincere. Of course I encourage everyone to both say and show their spouse that they love them.
Jesus is our friend and we need to treat Him like a real one. Not a fictional character we’ve been told about.
Judy
August 25, 2011 at 11:16 am
So many times we think we know the will of the Father/Jesus and we consider ourselves friends, but we don’t take the time to get to know Him by spending time in His word or visiting with Him in prayer. Many times we don’t even know what His voice sounds like because we are too busy talking to stop and listen. Jesus said, “My sheep (friends) know my voice”. We, many times, also just go off of what other people say and don’t check it out for the validity of what is said.
Thanks for listening.