“You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:14)
Have you ever met someone who makes it easy to be his or her friend? Someone, you might imagine, who not only seeks your friendship, but then, in a sort of wonderful, strange way, keeps working to make you a good friend?
It’s the friend who takes you out for her birthday as well as yours; the friend who, when you’re sure you’ve said something wrong, calls you and chit-chats in a way that lets you know all is well; the friend who asks for what he needs, and doesn’t wait for you to offer; the friend who’s ready with a relieving joke when you feel stupid or ashamed—in short, the friend who makes you a friend by being your friend.
That friend is your Lord. He came to earth to gain friends, lovers of the kingdom, and yet He did not play the hard-to-get, fickle friend. What He demanded He also provided: His words, His commands, His gifts—these things blaze the path of friendship with Jesus, making you His friend by being your friend.
LET US PRAY: Thank You, good Friend, for being the Lover of my soul, the good friend who I cannot be. By Your friendly Spirit, teach me to love as You have first loved me, and thus keep Your commandments to the end. Amen
Pastor Steven K. Gjerde
Zion, Wausau
