In this devotional series on remembering, we’ve discovered how each aspect of our relationship with God teaches us different but equally important truths. Each one enables us to face the future confidently.

As His dearly loved children (we discovered in January) we’re under the care of our heavenly Father. He remembers that we are dust and extends mercy to us as we seek to become more like Him. In February, we remembered we’re also the bride of Christ. Throughout eternity we will reign with Him, and even now we hold a special place in His heart. This truth will help us stay faithful to our covenant when distractions arise to draw us away. At times we may need to renew our vows to Him so our relationship can flourish.  

This month we’ll explore another important truth about the Lord and how He sees us. In chapter 15 of John, after His teaching on abiding in the vine, Jesus tells His disciples: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (v. 15).

Jesus wasn’t saying we relinquish our role as His servant. We simply add another dimension to our relationship. After all, He is infinitely greater than we are. We always view Him through eyes of reverence and holy fear. And, unlike friendships among peers, we are accountable to Him in a way He is not accountable to us. But sharing information about His Father’s business would be considered inappropriate for mere servants. So, He says, see yourselves also as my friend.   

Like any good friendship, our friendship with the Lord is built on a foundation of honesty and trust. We share our lives freely with one another. Holding nothing back, we share our dreams and perspectives with Him, as well as our frustrations and disappointments. We know He will understand what we’re feeling and thinking. Like all true friends, we find every excuse to spend time with one another because we love hanging out!

On His part, in His role as our divine Friend, Jesus brings us into the inner circle of God’s purposes. We get a glimpse behind the curtain of world events. We learn from Him how God’s kingdom intersects with everything we see around us. Through this knowledge we’re given the opportunity to work with Him in changing the world. As Dallas Willard writes in his book The Divine Conspiracy, “The purpose of God with human history is nothing less than to bring out of it an eternal community of those who were once thought to be just ‘ordinary human beings.’” Through Jesus our lives take on eternal purpose.

Even in the Old Testament a few people knew God in this way. In Genesis 18 we see Abraham discussing the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah with the Lord, not as an equal but as a trusted friend. God reveals what He’s planning to do and lets Abraham suggest the limits for sparing the cities from destruction.

Moses was another who enjoyed friendship with God. It says in Exodus 33:11, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” Moses felt free to complain, make suggestions, and even counsel God at times during their trek across the desert together.

Later, the prophet Jeremiah (and other prophets) found comfort in their relationship with God even when His directives put them in grave danger. They didn’t always understand what He was up to, but they did get to see glimpses of His heart as He tried to win the Israelites back to himself. They worked together with the Lord to restore righteousness in the nation called to be His bride.

This possibility for friendship between God and mere men is why He so hated Israel’s fascination with idols. When they could know and enjoy a living, loving relationship with their God, they chose to trust in inanimate, powerless statues of wood and stone. In Isaiah 43 He reminds them, “You are my witnesses … my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me. … I have revealed and saved and proclaimed – I, not some foreign god among you” (vv. 10-12).

The idols Israel was worshipping could not speak, act, predict the future, or redirect world events. They could not love or save. It grieved God to see them give their time and attention to such worthless pursuits while pushing away the only One who truly wanted to be their Friend and Savior.

Today people in the West aren’t pursuing wood and stone idols, but they are busy investing their time in political programs, social groups, economic status, education, technologies and human knowledge, bowing down to them as the answer to their problems. Sometimes even drugs and other destructive lifestyles become a substitute for experiencing real life. What a waste when we can be a friend of God and enjoy everything He brings into our relationship!

Like Moses, we can commune with God face to face. Like Abraham, we can see behind the curtain of what He’s planning to do. Like the prophets, we can understand some of the whys of His actions, and like the Twelve, we can learn more about our Master’s business as insiders within the Kingdom.

There’s another side to friendship, of course. Besides the benefits we receive, we also have the responsibility of being a friend. Friendship is always a two-way street. Being friends of the Lord Almighty is challenging. We know we’re weak, prone to making mistakes; often we’re clueless about what He’s aiming for. We’re more of a hindrance than a help to His kingdom. Sometimes we’re only “fair-weather” friends – we don’t stick around for the hard stuff. Yet, He calls us His friends. How gracious God is!  

We find a special kind of joy in the right friendship. One hymnwriter expressed his friendship with Jesus in this way: “He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” (In the Garden, C. Austin Miles, c. 1912)