Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. (Mark 2:13,14, NKJV).
Dear God, we thank You for being our Friend. Where would we be if You had not befriended us when we needed a friend the most? Please stay in our lives and walk with us through this valley of tears. We ask all these mercies in the only name that brings salvation – the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Aren’t you glad that Jesus is a friend of sinners? I sure am! Even though I have been saved by grace, I still need a friend like Jesus when I fall.
What I would like us to look at today is the concept of friendship. It was obviously important to Jesus. This is what He said to His disciples: “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15, NKJV).
One of the neat things about friends is that they like to share what they have with each other. They share information, they share their belongings, they share their joys and their sorrows, their secrets, their plans, their pains and their gains. That is the kind of friendship that Jesus longs to have with us.
We have a very vague idea of the oneness that has existed between the Father and the Son from eternity. We only hear about it from Jesus as He prays to the Father the last night He spent on earth. As He described the oneness that has always existed between Himself and the Father and then asks the Father to grant us that same oneness – I simply stand in awe and desire to have that prayer fulfilled in me. Can you imagine the kind of friendship that will exist when you experience that oneness?
When Jesus calls us friends, and affirms that declaration with the statement that He shares all the information that He receives from the Father with us, I get the feeling that I really have a Friend in high places! What a honor is mine! My Friend knows that I am not perfect but He loves me just the same! My Friend knows that I slip and fall at times, but He picks me up, dusts me off, and still calls me “friend.” My Friend left me a promise that He is coming back for me so that we can be together forever! I love my Friend and can hardly wait to see Him again!
Is Jesus your friend?
Tomorrow we will talk about Levi Matthew, and his friendship with Jesus.