Friend of God

One of the things that we must always keep in mind is that Christianity is not a religion, it is a Relationship. With this in mind, one of the things that we understand, that I don't believe enough Christians are conscious of, is that God is looking for Friends. Yes, He's looking for worshippers (John 4). Yes, He's looking for servants. But He's also looking for Friends. A friend is someone that you have a close, intimate relationship with. In these times, there are people that we call our friends that really are not. They might be good associates and people that we genuinely like and care for; but that doesn't automatically constitute them as a friend. God is looking for Friends. And in order to be anyone's friend, particularly a Friend of God, there are certain standards you must meet and qualifications you must fulfill.


In order to be a Friend of God, the first thing we must be is Faithful. The only person that the scripture specifically identifies as the Friend of God was Abraham (James 2). One of the defining characteristics regarding Abraham was his Faithfulness. He is often recognized as the Father of Faith. Abraham believed God and did exactly what He said (Genesis 12, Hebrews 11). If we're going to be a Friend of God, we must walk by faith and be faithful unto God. The scripture says in Hebrews 11 that without faith it is impossible to please God. You can't be a Friend of God and walk in Unbelief. Reason being, unbelief and lack of faith does not facilitate closeness and intimacy with God.


The next area of qualification in order to be a Friend of God is Obedience. Jesus said in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of Saint John, "ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you". You can't be a Friend of God walking in a spirit of disobedience. This doesn't mean that you're going to do everything right. It doesn't mean that you're not going to make mistakes. But you can't have a stubborn spirit and a hard heart and refuse to do what God is telling and calling you to do. God has Grace for our sins, that's why Jesus died (1John 1). So He knows we're going to fall short of His Glory (Romans 3). But even in our shortcomings and trespasses, we are in agreement with God that His Will and His Word are correct (Romans 7). However, there are too many Christians that aren't even "struggling" with the performance and execution of God's Divine Will for their lives. They have grown content and complacent in their Disobedience. This is not the Will of God. Some people struggle with sin because of a lack of maturity and spiritual growth and development. But there are other Christians who have simply made up their mind that they're going to persist in a path that doesn't reflect the Divine Will of God for their lives. You can't be a Friend of God and operate in a spirit of disobedience.


Lastly, if we are to be a Friend of God, we must be willing to Sacrifice. This is where, I believe, many Christians fall short in terms of qualifying to be a Friend of God. The culture of our society has conditioned us to build our world around personal comfort and convenience. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, but this mind-set is not always conducive to being a Friend of God. Jesus calls us to Deny Ourselves and to Carry our Cross (Matthew 16). This means we have to be willing to Sacrifice, even when we don't want to, and even when it hurts. Going back to the Biblical Friend of God, when God called Abraham to sacrifice his only begotten son Isaac (Hebrews 11), he was Obedient. There's nothing recorded that he murmured or complained; he simply executed God's Divine Will for his life. This is what it means to be a Friend of God. It doesn't matter what it is, from the heart we are Obedient to whatever God tells us to do. There aren't many people that are willing to qualify for this spiritual status. Are you willing to make the Sacrifice? God was willing to make it for us (John 3). If we are, then we can become a Friend of God.