Jesus is our Creator, Savior, and Lord, but we should also remember He is our friend
Our Best Friend Is Jesus
John 15:9-17
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Many years ago the Sunday school teachers in my church would teach preschool classes a little chorus that included the line “My best friend is Jesus.” As those children grew to adulthood, they naturally put aside juvenile songs like this one. But sadly, they also frequently seemed to abandon the idea of Jesus being a friend.
As believers learn more about God, they rightly elevate Him to be the Lord of their life and acknowledge Him as sovereign Ruler over all the earth. It is easier to think of one so high and mighty as Creator, Savior, and Lord than to “lower” Him to the position of a friend. But Jesus makes a point of telling His disciples that He is both a transcendent deity—the Son of God—and their companion (John 15:15).
His offer of friendship extends to modern disciples as well. Like the original 12 followers, we are privileged to say that Christ laid down His life for us in a supreme act of love and devotion (John 15:13). What’s more, His Spirit reveals the truth of Scripture to our heart so we can learn more about God and His ways. In other words, Jesus has made known to us the things He heard from His Father. A man doesn’t tell secrets to servants; he tells them to his friends (John 15:15).
Teaching children to sing of their friendship with Jesus is a wise idea. But I wonder when some grown believers will learn to sing of that special relationship again. May we never become so religious, so pious, or so full of our own maturity that we cannot say, “My best friend is Jesus Christ.”
In Touch Ministries
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