Friends For The Journey

I wrote last week about the Hobbit’s friendship with the King in Lord of the Rings. Most good movies include the theme of friendship. William Wallace’s life-long friendship with the red-headed Scot warrior, The army captain’s friendship with the Samurai chief (in the Last Samurai), Crockett and Tubbs in Miami Vice (now I am dating myself), Detectives Riggs and Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon, Alex the Lion and Marty the Zebra in my personal favorite, Madagascar. Who could forget Tom Hank’s friendship with a basketball named Wilson in Castaway? The young white and black football players in Remember the Titans. All of the soldiers in Easy Company in Band of Brothers. I could go on-and-on… friendship seems to be a universal value.

Friendships do not just happen—they take diligent effort and such qualities as reciprocity, loyalty, mutual respect, truthfulness, proper boundaries, shared difficulties and frequent communication. The old saying is that you “cannot take it with you.” But if we believe that the human soul is immortal, that is not entirely true. The only thing you can take with you into the next life are relationships—friendships.

This leads in to chapter 12 of the Purpose-Driven Life. There are four things that one must do to nurture one’s friendship with God.

Developing Your Friendship with God (Chapter 12).
You are as close to God as you choose to be.
Like any friendship, you must work at developing your friendship with God. It won’t happen by accident.

I must choose to be honest with God.
God does not expect us to be perfect, but he does desire complete honesty. Can God handle that kind of frank, intense honesty from you? Absolutely! Genuine friendship is built on disclosure.

It likely that you need to confess some hidden anger and resentment at God for certain areas of your life where you have felt cheated or disappointed. Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God.

I must choose to obey God in faith.
Every time you trust God’s wisdom and do whatever he says, even when you don’t understand it, you deepen your friendship with God. Jesus said “you are my friends if you do what I command you” -John 15:15. True friendship isn’t passive; it acts.

I must choose to value what God values.
What does God care about the most? To be a friend of God, you must care about what God cares about. Friends of God tell their friends about God. David to God in the Psalms: “Your love means more than love to me”

God isn’t offended when we wrestle with him, because wrestling requires personal contact and brings us close to him. It is a passionate activity and God loves it when we are passionate with him.

I must desire friendship with God more than anything else.
The truth is—you are as close to God as you choose to be. Intimate friendship with God is a choice, not an accident. Often pain is the fuel of passion.

God is not mad at you; he’s mad about you, and he will do whatever it takes to bring you bring into fellowship him.

Point to Ponder: I’m as close to God as I choose to be.

Verse to remember: “Draw close to God and he will draw close to you” (James 4:8).

Question to consider: What practical choices will I make today to grow closer to God?