<<This meditation was originally posted November 21, 2010.>>
“You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father“ (John 15:14-15, CSB).
Who is your best friend? Most of us would say it’s the person we tell everything, the one we reveal our innermost thoughts and feelings to.
Jesus promised that if we will do what He tells us we can be His friend and He will be our friend.
Think about it. God is inviting you to be His friend. The eternal, omnipotent Creator of the universe is asking you to friend Him!
In the Old Testament only Abraham (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8) and Moses (Exodus 33:11) were called “friends” of God. Now Jesus extends this privilege to all obedient believers.
Jesus explains that God doesn’t want to be your boss, He wants to be your friend! And, when He is your friend He will reveal Himself to you.
Now, a friendship is a two-way street. God wants you to be obedient to Him and He wants to bless you so you can make more friends for Him to bless: “You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you” (vs. 16).
Finally, the basis of any friendship is love. A best friend will even lay down his life for his friend. And, that’s the example of friendship that Jesus demonstrated to us.
Joseph Scriven may have had these verses from John 15 in mind when he penned a poem for his mother near the middle of 19th century:
What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
When 19th century musical evangelist Ira Sankey set the words to music, the song, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” was popularized through his revivals with Dwight L. Moody.
And this message proclaiming the friendship of Jesus has been sung all around the world for the last 150 years!
Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. (1 John 4:11, CSB)
Steve's Bible Meditations 
Such a meditation that led me to listen to the old hymn “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.” I’m smiling because the first time I googled, Alan Jackson’s rendition popped up!!! :). Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer My prayer!
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I forgot about the old hymn and it’s so relevant to these verses. Wonder if the songwriter was thinking of these verses from John? I should add something to the post about the hymn. Thanks for mentioning it, Judy.