God's Friend

"But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend." Isaiah 41:8

"And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." Exodus 33:11a

Whenever I read the scriptures of how God spoke with a Moses as a man would talk with his friend and how God referred to Abraham as His friend, my heart is filled with longing to have that close intimate relationship with God. My own humanity immediately tells me that my desire is one of impossibility because Abraham and Moses were pillars of the faith. Abraham had such great faith that it was given to him as righteousness. And Moses... well... he led the children of Israel out of Egypt, brought water from the rock, and parted the Red Sea and so many more big important things. My own thoughts tell me that I am just a mere mortal with so many flaws and so many short-comings that surely God doesn't see me as a friend, surely God doesn't long to talk to me face to face. My own unrelenting insecurities tell me that I am too flawed to be more than an acquaintance of the Creator of all and I should just be content with that. But when I continue to read on in the Word, I understand that God is more faithful and more merciful than my insecurities. When God robed himself in flesh and came to this world He showed the world, and me in particular, that it is possible for me to have that intimate relationship with Him that I long for. Scripture after scripture, He tells me that I loves me specifically and calls me friend. "The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!" Luke 7:34  Jesus came to be a friend of sinners, just like me.  He didn't come to save the righteous but to save people like me. Proverbs 17:17 says "A friend loveth at all times," and God has shown me time and time again that he loves me, even when I am unlovable. Even when I do not deserve His love and mercy, he still loves me... just like a friend does. When I have failed to be His friend, He has been faithful to be mine. The ultimate declaration of His love and desire to be my friend is His willingness to become flesh and bear my sin on His sinless back and die in my place. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend" John 15:13 Jesus picked up that cross and carried it up that hill, bearing the sin and shame that was mine to bear, and allowed them to kill His body simply because He loves ME. I have no reason to doubt that the Creator of all, and the Savior of the world love me, in particular.

When you start feeling small and the thoughts in your mind tell you that God is too big to really care about you or to even notice you, just remember that He died on that cross because He longs for you to be His friend. He loves you specifically and there isn't anything that is too big to keep you from Him.  Regardless of any mistakes you have made or any temptation that has overtaken you, He loves you enough to forgive and still be your friend. Simply trust His Word when He says, "Ye are my friend, if you do whatsoever I command you." (John 15:14)