Friend of God

9 December 2014 | 17 Kislev 5775

 

One recent shabbat morning, during a time of worship, a burden from the Lord came upon my heart, in which I began to feel the disappointment of God. A deep sadness came over me.  During the preceding week I had been praying about the theme of friendship and had asked, "What does it mean to be your friend?" That morning, He began to show me the type of friend He longs to have. He showed me that the majority of His so-called friends, those who are by known by His Name, do not follow Him.  Very few are willing to go where He wants them to go.  During that 15 minutes I experienced His loneliness and His sadness.  So often He is traveling alone (metaphorically speaking).  He desires a friend  to go with Him and for Him, and to simply walk with Him.  But very few will go.  This is why Abraham is called His friend, because Abraham followed Him.  He didn't just believe - he also followed - and Abraham followed into unpleasant circumstances. God is looking for friends who will follow Him.  He is close, even intimate, with those who follow Him because it shows their faithfulness and commitment.  The  intimacy is their reward.   A true friend is one who sticks closer than a brother.  So often that scripture is quoted as referring to the amazing friend that God is to us when all earthly friends forsake us - but He is also looking for us to be that friend to Him.  He is looking for friends who will stick by Him even when His brothers forsake Him. He wants us to follow Him when it's good and when it's bad, when it's where we want to go and when it's where we would rather not go.  So the question today is ... Are you willing to follow Him wherever He asks you to go?  Where is He leading you today? Are you a friend of God?

Proverbs 18:24 JPS

"There are companions to keep one company, and there is a friend more devoted than a brother."

 

Isaiah 41:8 JPS

"But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham My friend."

 

James 2:23 ESV

"...and the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness' - and he was called the friend of God."