“But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend.”
This article is based on an idea that I read on this subject in David Jeremiah’s devotional book, Discovery. The text written above is the text that he used for his article. Isaiah 41:8 is very important for the Jewish people, and it is exceptionally flattering to Abraham. There are a lot of great people in the Bible, but only Abraham is referred to as God’s friend. The main part of this article is based on the last paragraph of David’s Jeremiah’s article: “Perhaps the greatest honor the scriptures ascribe to Abraham is that he was ‘the friend of God.’ Are you a friend of God? Do you respect Him, love Him, and confide in Him? Abraham’s example is for each of us today.” I will base my comments in this article on three things asked in the paragraph quoted above. If we would be God’s friend, we would respect Him. The Bible tells us that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” Respecting God and fearing Him are one and the same. A person who is God’s friend takes God very seriously and does not thumb his or her nose at what He teaches us in His word. How do we show respect for our parents? I think that the first thing that we should do is respect them, and when we respect them we are more prone to obey them. We can’t go through life taking God lightly and expect to experience His great power in our lives. There are people who just can’t figure out why God does not use them in a greater way. I think that they could find their answer if they would consider whether or not they really respect God, and whether or not His word influences the decisions that they make in this life. If Abraham was anything, he was obedient to God. You will remember that He left Ur of the Chaldees and eventually went to Canaan because God told him to do so.. What is the last thing that you did because God told you to, whether you thought it would be beneficial to you or not? A friend of God would obey out of respect for Almighty God. If we would be God’s friend we would love Him. When Jesus was asked which the greatest commandment was, He said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) Do we really love God or do we say that we love Him because we know that we are supposed to? That is an important question because the Lord knows our hearts and knows whether or not our love for Him is genuine. Think about it: If we are friends with people, it is because we love them. The same is true of God. The result of loving God will be much the same as respecting Him – we will obey Him. Jesus said: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) Jesus also said: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” We can’t say that we love God and go our own way through life. If we would be God’s friend we would confide in Him. Another word for confiding in God is prayer. It is in prayer that we communicate with God. The communication between God and us is reciprocal, i.e. God expects us to listen to Him as well as His listening to us. But to confide also implies that when we have problems and troubles in life, we take them to Him. When we have doubts and fears, we take them to Him. When we are having family problems, we take them to Him. When we are having church problems, we take them to God. Whatever it is that we are facing in life; we need to confide our concerns to God. He already knows them, but He still wants us to ask. Our problem is that we are likely to try to work out everything ourselves and then consult God. It doesn’t work that way. Based on these three things that I have shared in this article, are you God’s friend? If you stood before God today and asked Him: “Am I your friend?” What would His answer be? Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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