He Calls Me Friend
by Jeanne Rogers
"I will indeed do what you have asked, for you have found
favor with me, and you are my friend." (Exodus 33:17, NLT)
Fans swarmed the court to get near Marty, a star athlete who he led his basketball team to victory in the playoffs. David, his best friend from high school, also attempted to reach him. As distance grew between them, David shouted Marty’s name. Many people were shouting Marty’s name, but the familiar voice of his friend, caused Marty to turn and make eye contact with David.
Suddenly Marty pushed his tall frame toward the person he knew--the one he called friend. They embraced and David’s personal friendship allowed him to accompany the game’s MVP to a place that was off limits to the fans.
Our life in friendship with God has many similar privileges. “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” (Romans 5:1-2, NLT)
God so desires friendship with us, that He actually gives us the love in our hearts to love him back. “For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” We become empowered as his friend, and we receive a reservoir of love to draw from everyday. His power, given in relationship through Christ, equips us to meet each trial we face.
Moses faced many challenges as he led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. He regularly exercised his privilege of dialoging in friendship with God. Exodus 33 and 34 contains one of their most intriguing conversations.
Moses: (speaking to God) “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You call me by name and tell me I have found favor with you. Please if this is really so, show me your intentions so I will understand you more fully and do exactly what you want me to do. Besides, don’t forget that this nation is your very own people.”
God: (speaking to his friend, Moses) “I will personally go with you, Moses. I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”
Moses: “If you don’t go with us personally, don’t let us move a step from this place. If you don’t go with us, how will anyone ever know that your people and I have found favor with you? How else will they know we are special and distinct from all other people on the earth?”
God: “I will indeed do what you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and you are my friend.”
Moses persisted because he desired to know God’s presence experientially. In the dramatic scene that followed, he encounters God’s manifest presence, and sees God’s back after He passed by. He fell to the ground and worshipped as God said, “All the people around you will see the power of the Lord, the awesome power I will display through you.”
Our friendship with God comes when we believe in God’s son, for we can’t comprehend the mind of God or experience the spiritual dimension of our relationship apart from Jesus Christ.
God communicated through Moses and many in the Old Testament, but no one ever saw God. Jesus is both God and the unique Son of God. In Christ, God revealed his nature and essence in a way that could be seen and touched.
Moses received his guarantee from God. New Covenant believers also have a guarantee: And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us everything He promised and that He purchased us to be His own people. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
This Week
Christ can bring you into a friendship with God. It is the highest place of privilege and power in his kingdom. Read about it in 2 Corinthians 1:22, Galatians 4:6 and Philippians 1:20.
Prayer
"Lord, I want to know the full dimension of our friendship. I want to converse with you about my life and things beyond the reach of earth. As your presence inhabits my praises and let me see your glory. I will come and sit with you because you have called me 'friend'.”
