Friendship with God

Call to Prayer

Title: Friendship with God

By: Simon Maina Nuhu

Date: 28.02.2023

Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸ Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him (Genesis 18:17-18).

Friendship is a state of lingering affection by deep intimacy between two people. In all ages, cultures, and societies, friendships are an extremely important form of cordial relationship that fosters vitality, elegance, and fulfilment throughout one’s life span. Through friendships, great ideas and knowledge are shared, hence, greater meaning to life is manifested. It is, therefore, paramount to safely propose that friendship pilots the direction of our social well-being by adequately adding or debasing our livelihood. Good and healthy friendships often lead to a fruitful ending, however, evil/toxic friendships most assuredly end in regret and pathetic reproach. An example of good friendship between humans is found in various pages of the scriptures, even an outstanding one existed between David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18), such was worthy of emulation.

Our focus on friendship is not directed to David and Jonathan but centers on the kind of friendship that is between the mortal and immortal (human and divine). The perfect model of friendship was between God and Abraham. The friendship was not only profitable and amiable but also estimably worthy of emulation. It is easier to admire such friendship without considering the series of events that happened. For Abraham to attend such exalted privilege, he demonstrated huge responsibility that earned him. The existence of that kind of friendship comes with a price, these are;

Obedience is a key factor in endearing the interrupted attention of God. One needs to begin by observing the commandments of God, heeding the voice of the Holy Spirit. When one obeys even little instructions of God, he/she invests in the trust of God.

Sacrifice is extremely important in order to establish a lasting friendship with God. A true Christian should not just commend the action of Abraham, but take it as a personal lesson to sacrifice costly things for God. For Abraham, his net worth was Isaac. For you; it could be your job, relationship, self-esteem, money, education, car, time, or savings. Sacrifice is not just giving, but giving cheerfully at the detriment of even your existence! The proportion of our sacrifice defines the level of our commitment and submission to His cause.

Consistency defines the dimension of loyalty. Friendship thrives on consistency, if you genuinely care for something, you stay true to it until the end. Jesus Christ spent reasonable time with the disciples and witnessed their consistency despite others leaving Him after hard teachings before he called them friends (John 15:15). We ought to be consistent in serving Him for us to earn His friendship.

Dear friends in Christ, we need to inculcate the above attributes and practice them adequately with great zeal, then our friendship with Him will be established.

Prayer point:

Let’s thank God for the word and also ask Him to teach us the virtues of true friendship