Friends of God

Two men camping in the forest were enjoying their morning coffee when, all of a sudden, they spotted a very large, hungry grizzly bear running toward them. One of the men quickly pulled on his running shoes. “Do you actually think you can outrun that grizzly bear?” his friend asked.

“I don’t need to,” he replied. “All I have to do is outrun you.”

We all have had friends like that, haven’t we? At the first threat of danger or hardship or difficulty, they desert us. So what makes for true friendship? It has been said that a true friend is one who walks in when others walk out. Thankfully, there have been people in my life who have stood by me and have been honest friends. But one thing I am confident of, one thing I am sure of, is that I have found a friend in Jesus Christ. He always has been a true friend.

Jesus Christ offers His friendship to us. The question is whether we really want to be friends of God. He cannot merely be our friend without a response on our part. A friendship, obviously, is made up of two people committing themselves to one another. I can extend friendship to you, but until you return it to me, I cannot legitimately say that we have a friendship.

Jesus demonstrated His willingness to have a friendship with us by what He did for us. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). He showed us how dedicated He was to us when He did just that.