NOVEMBER 4: “BECOMING FRIENDS OF JESUS”

It is always a thing of joy for someone to call you a friend. It means the person can relate easily with you and can depend on you. He or she can discuss with you freely without any inhibition and this connotes affection between the two people. A basic need of man is affection. We always need someone to rely on and depend on. Someone has said that Human beings are social animals. We always need to relate with people of like minds.

These who abide in Christ Jesus are objects of God’s love and affection. You who has a relationship with Christ cannot say that you are friendless when He has said “Henceforth I call you not servants…but I have called you friends”. To you who lament the fact that you have been bereft of affection and love in life, I happily commend Christ to you today. He loved you enough to lay down His life for you. Are you grateful and thankful to Him for this?

A true friend is one of life’s richest blessings. A relationship of friendship is not only most satisfying; it is also a source of elevation to the life of each of the parties involved. Many times, a person has suffered severely in his affections because he lost a friend. The loss sustained also deprives him of the benefits of character and personality that might have been his had the friendship endured rather than being terminated. No friendship can have lasting quality except the parties thereof try intelligently to keep it under constant repair.

What are some of our duties as friends of Jesus to ensure that our friendship with Him is kept in a state of constant repairs? (a) We must strive to be like him. A common saying goes thus, “show me your friend and I will show you who you are”. To be friends with Jesus, we must struggle to behave like Him. Remember the believers were first called Christians at Antioch because people saw them behaving like Christ. (b) We must have a constant relationship with Him in prayers and through the reading of His words. It is only by doing this regularly that we can truly know His mind and be His true friends.

Prayer: Thank you for your friendship and love Lord Jesus. You are always there for me and always loving me and I am grateful, Amen