John 15:14-15 …You
are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No
longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant[b] does not know what his master is doing; but
I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made
known to you.
·
Not everyone in this
world believes in God…
·
Even among those who
believe in God, not everyone believes in the God of the Bible…
·
For those who believe in
the God of the Bible, not everyone is born of God…
·
And to those that are
born of God, not everyone has the same kind of relationship with this God…
·
Some are comfortable with
being children, others with being servants, and others can define their
relationship with God in many ways…
·
All these relationships
are in the Bible, but the kind of relationship that one treasures determines
everything about their Christian life including one’s prayer life and daily
walk.
For instance, children will not
mind a lot as long as they get their daily bread,
Servants may not mind a lot about
how they live as long as they do their work…
However, there is no greater
relationship than being God’s Friend! Enoch walked with Him so closely that He
was no more, the greatest level that Abraham reached for his faith in God was
to become a friend of God,
Genesis 5:24… And
Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took
him [home with Him].
James 2:23… and
the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was
counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God… at one time
in Genesis 18:17-33, God felt like He had to tell Abraham about His plans of
destroying Sodom and Gomorrah and He engaged Him in a friend-to-friend chat
where Abraham was even able to question God’s integrity, and God was not
offended!
… and when Jesus realized that
His disciples had matured up, they graduated from being servants to friends…
Important aspects to note:
1.
You
can be a servant without being a friend. God can use you because you have what
He needs at that time, even without you having a close relationship with Him!
Even workers of iniquity can pretend to be servants of God… Jesus says,
[Matthew 7:21-23]
“21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in
heaven. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many
mighty works in Your name? 23 And then I will say to them
openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly
[disregarding My commands].
2.
Being a servant does not necessarily
require deep insight or revelation into God’s mysteries. You can serve even
without much knowledge of Him or His business, but you can’t become His Friend
if you’re not deeply involved… “for the servant[b] does not know what his master is doing; but
I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made
known to you.”
3.
When you are simply a servant, you may not mind
about your walk because all your focus is on accomplishing the tasks before
you, and your satisfaction is in getting results from whatever you do in the
name of the Lord… But when you mind your friendship with the Master, you don’t
want to do anything that grieves Him; you hate what he hates and love what He
loves – it affects your character, motives and actions in your day-to-day life.
4.
Serving God is the greatest honour, but
only to those who have understood the essence of the relationship… Jesus says
in John 12:26, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and
where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will
honor him.” He refers to the kind of servant that “Follows Him” – that is
relationship…
[AMP] If anyone serves Me, he must
continue to follow Me [[b]to cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly
to My example in living…
What is your relationship Status
with God? Are you simply a child, a servant, a friend or something else?
