Friend of God

When I attended elementary school there was a real pecking order on the play ground. You better have your circle of friends or else. You did not want to be the straggler, left without the protection of the pack. It was painful to see students desperately try to find a friend. Some tried to buy the friendship of others by giving away the best foods from their lunch or giving them the best place in line.

I was one of the lucky ones because I grew up with a true friend. In fact we are still close friends today. I look back on our 50 plus years of friendship and I believe that true friendships are born out of the same value systems. We lived in the same neighborhood. We were less than a year apart in age. Our families were very similar. Our likes and dislikes were spot on and we have years of friendship to prove this point.

In the Bible, Abraham was called a friend of God. How does one become a friend of God? It seems while most folks are trying to avoid any direct and honest interaction with the Lord God, Abram sought God out. For instance when God asked Cain, "Where is your brother Able?" Cain’s answer attempted to dodge God’s question, as he smartly replied, “Am I my brother's keeper?”

Compare this to Abraham who looks for every reason to meet with God. Over and over in scripture we see Abraham stopping to build an altar for the sole purpose of meeting with God. (Gen. 12:6-7 Scecham, Gen. 12:8 Bethel, Gen. 13:18 Hebron, and Gen. 22:9 Mount Moriah)

True friendship requires communication and time spent together. I know in my enduring friendship with my lifelong buddy, we call each other daily and look for opportunities to be together as much as possible. In John 15:15, (NET Bible) the Lord declares how he feels about us.

I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father.

Friendships require communication and time spent together. "Are you a Friend of God?"