A Friend in Jesus

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I didn’t find my friends; the good God gave them to me.”  And what a Friend, God gave us when he sent his Son.  Jesus was the ultimate friend, because he was willing to have his body broken and his blood shed for us.  He calls us His Friends.

In John chapter 15, Jesus was talking to his disciples when he said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  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.”

I find it amazing that after Jesus spent 33 years here on earth, he still wanted to call us Friends.  After seeing our sins, our weaknesses, and our faults he still loved us enough to call us Friends and die on a cross.  There is a wonderful old hymn call:

"What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief’s to bear!  What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!"

This song is inspired by Proverbs 18:24 that says, “There are “friends” who destroy each other, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”  Jesus is that Friend and He wants us to give Him all of our pain, our grief, and our heartaches. He wants us to join Him in His Kingdom; today and forever.
 
Original post day, February 25, 2009.