Friends

   Abraham was a friend of God, and what did that entail? He walked with Him, he heard Him speak, and he obeyed. He had faith in what God told him, and he entertained angels and maybe even Jesus Himself. I read through Hebrews chapter 11, and the faith of these men of God is foreign to me.

   True friendship with the God of the Old Testament and/or the Jesus of the New Testament is not a one time thing or an on again off again relationship. It is an ongoing, living life every day communion with Him where I do not have to conjure up some special feeling to know I have it.

   I have been in church all my life and accepted Jesus as my Savior early, and have had a couple of very real encounters with God over my life. These are real enough to me that there is no trouble seeing them again in my mind and feeling the hand of God on my life. But they are very few and very far between. I am grateful for His sacrifice, I am thankful for His resurrection, but I do not feel like Jesus is my cosmic buddy. There is something in my makeup that will not let me be that familiar. Savior, Guide, maybe even Lord, as those all seem pretty reverential, all feel right to me, but buddy or pal, those don't.

   I feel envious at times hearing Christian folk talk about their relationship with Jesus as a continuing saga of life experiences with Him. Am I holding Him at arms length and missing out on a great blessing? How do I make my relationship better and more meaningful?

   These are questions that cause me to think right now. God knows my heart, and I trust Him to give me what I need and desire in this area. Jesus loves me, this I know, because the Bible tells me so. Where do I go from here?