Friends of God
Scripture Reading — John 15:9-17
“I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
—John 15:15
We generally live up to expectations and titles. If we expect our teenagers to live irresponsibly, there is a good chance they will live up to that expectation. On the other hand, if we expect them to be responsible young adults, then they will seek to fulfill that expectation.
Jesus models expectations for us with his disciples. He tells them, “I no longer call you servants.” That was a major change of understanding for his disciples. The role of a servant was to be obedient to commands from the master and to give attention to the task at hand. But Jesus changed the expectation by saying, “Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
Friends experience an intimate, personal relationship with one another. To be a friend of God means to have access to the very heart of God. To know what the Master is doing and to have access to his heart is a tremendous privilege.
As we live and work within this relationship, our perspective changes because we are able to see through our Master’s eyes, and our heart beats in tune with his. We work with the Lord and have this incredible anchor that gives us stability through any and every situation that comes our way in life. What a tremendous blessing!
Jesus, thank you for framing our relationship with you as friends. Thank you for showing your friendship by becoming one of us and for setting us free by dying for us and giving us new life. Amen.
About the author — John Kuperus
Since he was young, John Kuperus has had a passion that everyone would know Jesus. Spreading the good news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) is very important to him. To be better equipped for missions, John attended Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He applied these skills with marketplace evangelism in a business he started in Sussex, New Jersey. This calling continued to follow him, so John attended seminary and became a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, serving a church in Ontario for eight years. Currently he serves as a missionary for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). He witnesses Jesus changing lives as people walk out of the darkness into the light. John is married to Helen, and they have seven children.
Start your day with quick daily devotions.
See God's love, power, presence, and purpose in your life every day!