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The other morning as I knelt down to pray, I immediately experienced fellowship with the Lord. I was thankful, but it was beyond my ability to express that emotion adequately to Him. No fellowship among mankind approaches this level of friendship. I find this biblical truth spoken by Jesus stunning:
“You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14).1
The restriction Jesus places on His friendship may seem odd to us. What kind of friend would say, “I’ll be your friend, but in order for that to happen, you must do whatever I tell you.”
I think most of us would say, “Um, no thanks.”
But it’s different with Jesus since He is God Himself. Let’s think about this for a moment.
We are talking here about being friends with the Creator of the universe; the Creator of everything that exists, including you. His power is so immense that the human mind cannot comprehend it. His knowledge and sovereignty are so expansive and perfectly all-encompassing that we, with our feeble minds, want to reject it as impossible.
He names every star and knows how many there are.
“He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names” (Psalm 147:4).
We know, don’t we, that stars are so numerous and that multitudes exist beyond our ability to discover them so it is impossible for us to count them?
He knows about every sparrow that falls.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Matthew 10:29).
There are more than a billion sparrows on the earth.2
Would you like to try keeping track of fallen sparrows? Sounds like a full-time job. With a lot of overtime.
He knows how many hairs are on our heads.
“Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7).
It is estimated that there are an average of 100,000 hairs on the human head.3
Multiply that by the over seven billion people on the earth. Would you like to start counting now?
He provides food for lions and ravens.
“Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket? Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?” (Job 38:39–41).
Didn’t we think that was, like, evolution and chance, or something like that? No, that silly calf or fawn that wandered away from the herd? That’s Him, doing what He said He does.
So, I trust you will agree with me that we simply do not know how to be friends with such a Being. So, it makes sense that we are only able to know this friendship if we do what He commands. He will tell us how to be His friends.
He will do this with boundless joy. He is a friend that will always stand up to help Christian believers, even when we are foolish. Forgiving us after we sin. Providing for us abundantly. He is the all-powerful friend who laid down His life so we could be friends and have His life within us—eternal life in His wondrous kingdom. Let’s take His offer of friendship and obey Him. Blessings are sure to follow.
1All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (2016). Crossway Bibles.
2https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57150571
3https://www.healthline.com/health/how-many-hairs-on-a-human-head
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