FRIEND OF GOD
You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God. (James 4:4)
Wow! Do you mean that if I enjoy this world that makes me God’s enemy? No! I don’t believe that is what this is saying at all. If Jesus came to give us life and if the joy of the Lord is our strength along with many other promises of God, it seems to me that we should enjoy this life more than anyone.
The point here is who are we are going to be most friendly with? Who is going to get preference in our life? Is it going to be God, or is it going to be the things of this world? Are we going schedule our life around God, or are we going to schedule God around our lives? Will we honor Him first, or will we honor Him when it is convenient? Will love, joy, peace and all that God has put in us be our focus or will they be what we use when it is for our benefit?
God wants us to be “all the time” friends. This is not because He is selfish for His own interests. It is because He is jealous for our benefit. Everything He has ever done or said has been for our good because he loves us.
Psalm 25:14 says that God reserves friendship for those who fear Him. That is not for those who tremble and hide from Him, but for those who love and honor and trust Him. He reveals the secrets of His covenant to His friends. I am sure that you feel just like I do. You want to experience all the benefits of the covenant that Jesus sealed for us.
There is so much that we do not know and have not yet experienced, and we never will unless we make friendship with God the most important thing in our lives.
I can tell you that it is scary to think that choosing my own way over God’s way makes me an enemy of God. It is easier to just say that I am stubborn in some particular area, or to assume that God knows how I am and He will make allowances. I guess maybe it is time to stop expecting God to make the allowances and allow Him to complete the good work that He has begun.
The only way to really enjoy this life is to be a friend of God. Everything else will fade away. No matter how good something looks, ultimately it will disappoint us and leave us unfulfilled. If it is a position or power that we seek, we will only want another position with more power. If it is friendship with some certain person, they will fail to live up to our expectations.
God is the only one who never fails. And it is He who pursues us and desires us and calls us. He has already determined that He will be the best friend we could ever find. Don’t you want to be His best friend?