Your Greatest Friend

A good friend is like chocolate icing on a chocolate cake.  Like soft cooling rain on a hot summer day.  Poets for centuries have tried to described a friend and we all get close but there is so much more to a good friend than our words can communicate. 

But our hearts understand what our minds cannot quantify.  A friend is priceless!

Jesus is the epitome of a best friend.  He loves you so much that He chose to pay your debt to sin with His very own life so that you could have eternal life with God.  

In the first four books of the New Testament, we see pictures of Jesus hanging out with all kinds of people.  He loves people.  And people love Him....well some of them did.  The church leaders weren't too fond of Jesus because He challenged their religious rituals and traditions. He came to make simple what they had made complex and to rebuke them for their devotion to man-made rules. They had made thousands of laws out of the ten commands Moses had brought down the mountain.  Having a relationship with God became an obligation instead of a personal lifelong journey.

Jesus toppled everything they had done.

The disciples weren't chosen from among the church leaders of the day.  They were not highly educated multi billion dollar making CEOs or politicians.  Jesus didn't go to those that were socially acceptable or popular.  He went to the sick, the broken, the rejected, and the unclean people.  Jesus went to those who were keenly aware of their faults and weaknesses.  He went to those who knew they needed help, that they couldn't do it on their own.  

One of the most remarkable things about Jesus is that He accepts anyone who accepts Him.  And He doesn't just tolerate us, He desires us.  Jesus wants us to call Him Friend.  How do we know this?  Because He called us His friend long before we ever considered making Him our Friend.

               You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 

                              John 15:14 - 15 ESV

Friendship with Jesus is open to anyone.  The only requirement is to believe in Him as the Son of God Who died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead for our righteousness.  Simply put, Jesus paid the debt that we owe for our sins - in full.  

The mess we have made of our lives doesn't make Him uncomfortable. The stain of our sins doesn't stop Him from wanting us.  There is nothing we can do that will cause Jesus to reject us.  

He is our eternal Friend who never leaves our side, even when we try to ignore Him.  

Don't disqualify yourself from a personal relationship with God because of your past.  Don't allow the labels that others have put on you rob you of a relationship with the one true Living God.  

Jesus wants to be your Friend.  He came to earth for you.  He doesn't want you to go through life alone. He wants to live with you, day in and day out.  He wants to share your joy, celebrate your successes, and mourn your losses.  He wants you to want Him. 

So, I ask you the question - is Jesus your Friend or is He just someone you occasionally bump into?  Is He the first Person you run to with your hurts and questions or the last?  Is church just a religious obligation you mark off your calendar every week or is it where you go to worship God and thank Him for being your Friend?  

Being friends with Jesus is simple.  Just ask Him to come into your heart and into life.  Live each day with Him.  Let go of yesterday and don't worry about tomorrow.  Read your Bible, and live each day with Jesus.

Live God first,

Heidirn