Jesus, Our Greatest Friend

This post is by Kelli LaFram.

I don’t have many close friends. I tend to hold people at a distance until I have time to observe them, determine their motives, and assess whether or not they are trustworthy. That said, the few friends I do have I hold dear. 

There is one woman in particular that I am very fond of. We met about four years ago, working together at an elementary school. Over the years, we learned that we have many things in common -- reading, canning, gardening, drinking coffee and raising houseplants and children, just to name a few. The more time we spend together, the more we love each other. We send each other text messages frequently and when it’s time for a dinner date, I get excited to see her. I love her deeply and I believe she would say the same of me.

A friend is a person who you share a mutual affection with. According to Strong’s concordance, when Jesus used the Greek word for friend, philos, in John 15:15, He was referring to companions, people whom He wished well. He said to His disciples, ”No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

If you doubt that Jesus is your friend, if part of you is holding Him at a distance, wondering if you can fully trust Him, remember these words: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Jesus did exactly that. He laid down his life and took all the wrath of God -- wrath that you and I deserved because of our sin -- so that we could be His friend. He demonstrated his selfless love for us on the Cross at Calvary. He is our greatest Friend and the one we should be most excited to spend time with each day.

Our God has many titles, including Creator, Father, Comforter, Good Shepherd, Defender, Promise Keeper, and many more. Let’s not forget that He is also our closest Friend. He is more fond of us than anyone else is or ever will be. He longs for us to draw near to Him and He cherishes the time we spend with Him. He knows us the best and loves us anyway.

Our morning God time should be more than just a habit or a spiritual discipline. It is definitely more than an item on our to-do lists. When we rise early in the morning to read our Bibles and spend time in prayer, we are meeting with our greatest Friend. Our morning God time is Friend time. And just as with our other close companions, the more time we spend with Jesus, the more we will love Him.

Kelli LaFram is actually Kelli LaFramboise, but no one can pronounce that, so with the permission of her family she writes under the shorter pen name. Her neighbors have started referring to her bunch as the LaFram Fam. In addition to writing for Hello Mornings, Kelli leads a Bible study in her home and serves in the children’s ministry at her local church. Kelli is an elementary school teacher and her hobbies include blogging about God’s word, listening to audiobooks with her children, drinking good coffee, and hand painting faith-based signs (but not after too much coffee). You can find her at www.quietlyreminded.com and https://www.instagram.com/kellilafram/.

Photo by Hannah Rodrigo on Unsplash