“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (Jo 15:14).
After taking a necessary detour to review what the Bible means by being fruitful, we now return to our empowering coverage of this great chapter on Christian discipleship. It’s fitting that we resume our study by considering the matter of friendship with Christ. It’s remarkable that our Lord desires a relationship with us beyond the level of being His students. Unthinkable as it may be, but God is not keen on a distant religious relationship we typically consider normal. He wants us to be closer than that. Ask Abraham! “And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God” (Jam 2:23). In our text, Jesus spells out what it takes to earn His friendship: obeying His commands. Obviously, in human terms, this sounds rather harsh. However, it’s only harsh when we overlook the disproportionate favour we get for being in covenant with the One who knows everything and can do for us exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think (Ep 3:20). We cannot therefore argue for friendship on equal terms with the Lord. We have to dance to His tune. The only right way is His way. Let’s ditch our foolish, ignorant ways and become friends with Christ on His terms.
Pastor Josh