Good morning,
While I was talking to one
of the guys this week the topic came up of Facebook and friends. It
turns out that one of his “friends” had “unfriended” him and he was
wondering why. As it turned out, I knew this former friend and knew
that the “unfriending” was a result of a problem that had nothing to do
with the guy I was talking to. Sin had taken hold of this former
friend’s life and now they wanted to avoid the guy. It’s interesting
how the social medial has taken a wonderful word and given it a whole
new set of meanings. Friends can now come and go on a whim. When the
Bible uses this term it has a whole different set of values attached to
it. In the Old Testament there were people like Enoch and Abraham and
Moses and Ruth and Esther and David who were given as examples of what
it meant to be a friend of God and those that they loved. They were
each defined as friends because they had an unwavering commitment to God
and someone else at great expense or risk to themselves. Being a
friend was a serious commitment.
In the New Testament being a
friend of Jesus could get you kicked out of the synagogue. Peter
discovered that what he thought was a firm friendship evaporated when he
depended on his own resources and not on God’s. It was only when God’s
Holy Spirit took full control of Peter that he was willing to do
whatever he was told to do at whatever cost was involved. It was Paul
who turned from enemy to friend when he saw the light and heard the
voice of his Devine lover and friend. It was Paul who said he wanted a
growing relationship with Jesus more than anything else in life and was
willing to have that relationship no matter what the cost. It was Paul
who pointed out to the Romans that because of what the Lord has done for
us in his death and resurrection, we can have an eternal, wonderful
relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Once that relationship has
begun, we will never be “unfriended”. Now that we have this secure
relationship with our Father, God, we will always be part of his family
and his eternal friends. May the Lord, by the power of his Holy Spirit,
teach us to trust this friendship with Jesus no matter where he leads
us or how expensive it gets.
Romans 5:11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Roy Wisner
