The Friendship Of The Lord
“The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant”
The written Word is such a gift! From Genesis to Revelation, there are whispers of Jesus and his teachings. This verse is a whisper of Jesus and one of his greatest teachings.
In John 15:13-15, Jesus says, Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Both of these scriptures reveal one of God’s greatest desires: friendship with his people. A friendship that is motivated by honor, reverence, respect, and love. A friendship that he and his friends delight in.
God desires friends and not servants.
Psalm 25:14 reveals the secret to becoming God’s friend: The fear of the Lord. God desires friends who honor and respect him, his ways, and his will. He desires friends who trust his leadership and pursue purity, holiness, and righteousness.
God does not want friends who abuse and misuse his radical love, mercy, and grace. He does not want us to be asking, “How much sin can I get away with and still spend eternity with God." Instead, he wants us to ask, “How much purity and holiness can I pursue in the grace of God?” He wants us to ask him to give us all that is available to us in the grace of God.
I am convinced that experiencing God’s friendship involves honoring and respecting him, but that does not mean we need to be perfect. Praise God for the cross! It means we will protect our friendship at all costs and seek to flee from everything that keeps us from experiencing the fullness of friendship available to those who fear God.
Think about your friendships. I imagine you do not willfully try to wrong your friends. I imagine you seek to honor and respect them. Similarly, God is looking for friends that seek to honor and respect him, not willfully wrong him.
I invite you to take a moment to think about your relationship with God. Does it feel like a close friendship or a distant friendship? Then ask yourself, why it feels how it does. If it feels distant, it may be because of a lack of time with him, a lack of respect and honor, or another reason.
Whatever the case may be, ask God to help you pursue greater friendship and ask him to increase your capacity to honor and respect him. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 86:11, ask him to "unite your heart to fear his name." Remember, He loves when we ask him for help and deeply desires to help us.
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