I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
John 15:15 NLT
Throughout my life, I’ve had many friends: childhood friends, school friends, college friends, work friends, best friends, and the list goes on. For most of us, friends come and go. Life’s circumstances can rob us of good friends. The persons I count as my best friends do not live close to me. I can always call them, but sometimes they are not available or are facing their own troubles. Then I find myself isolated from the emotional and spiritual support I need.
The hymn says, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!”[1] This is undergirded by our text today, which tells us that Jesus calls us friends – which makes Him our Friend. Proverbs 18:24 reminds us that we have a friend “who sticks closer than a brother” (NIV). That friend is Jesus.
There are times when my Friend Jesus ministers to me through an earthly friend – a hug, words of encouragement, and love. But there are times when He ministers to me directly: through His Word, a hymn or song, or the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit. At times of loss in my life, when no one understood, my Friend Jesus did and ministered to my heart.
The hymn goes on to say, “Oh what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”[2] How many times have I struggled with problems? Struggled and lost? Yet we have a Friend who is always near and willing to take our problems and give us sweet peace, to face life’s trials. He calls us friends. What a privilege to call the Son of God our Friend!
Today you may be facing a trial and feel you are alone. Take a moment to reach out to Jesus, the Friend who is closer than any other friend you may have. The one Friend who never fails, never leaves, but is always, always ready to help.
Notes of Joy, Copyright ©2017 Pacific Press Publishing Association
[1] Joseph M. Scriven, „What a Friend We Have in Jesus, 1855.
[2] Ibid