We all want a friend that has all the characteristics of the perfect friend. Unfortunately, those people don’t exist in this world. However, there is one that lowered himself to become a man that not only meets all the qualities but exceeds them. I know this because of what his word says, and because I experience this friendship daily. This friend is Jesus.
He is a friend that I can always call on and feel his presence no matter where I am. I can remember several times when I would be alone, and he would draw me to himself in such a way that I didn’t need anyone else. There have been so many of those times that paper would not hold them all. However, one of those times I had gone out of town on business. When night came, I was in my hotel alone and I felt a bit fearful. I had never experienced this particular feeling before, but as I read His word I felt a peace and a joy that only He can give. He was there! My uncomfortable, lonely, fearful feeling was gone. I learned that night I would never have to feel alone again. From that point on I began to look forward to and relish those times. I had my own little world with just me and Jesus. I did not just read about his closeness I experienced it. He is a dependable friend!
Proverbs 18:24b “and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
He is a friend that has compassion on us. When the people were following him in Matthew 15, he realized they were hungry and he made provision for them.
Matthew 15:32 “Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.”
We have common ground in our friendship. While most of our relationship is not common because he is God in the flesh, ruler, creator, all-knowing, all present, never changing, we can still have a common ground. He came and dwelled here on this earth to experience all the heartache, suffering, and joys that we experience here on this earth. He experienced temptations beyond our ability to conceive. He knows how we feel.
I Corinthians10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
He is always loyal. He does not abandon us for someone else. Because he is a triune God he can send the Holy Spirit to be with me, and everyone else at the same time. He is omnipresent. Nothing can separate me from the Holy Spirit, except me. Paul talks about us making shipwreck of our faith in I Timothy 1:19, however, no outside force can separate us.
Psalms 139:7-10 “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me”
His love is beyond any love we could ever experience from another person. He loved us enough to lay down his life for us when we were his enemies. Many people would die for someone else, but not for their enemies. We are sinners, and because we could not save ourselves, God demonstrated that love by allowing his Son Jesus to die in our place and pay the price for our sins. We are and were his enemies until we place our faith in Him.
Romans 5:6-8 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
The definition of respect is to value someone so much that you honor them in the way you treat them. Jesus places great value on us. We cost him his life. There is nothing more a person can give when he has given his life. This is the ultimate value of a friend.
John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
His forgiveness is unmatched. When he forgives he forgets. He never holds it against us again.
Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
There is no greater friend than Jesus! He has proved himself over and over to me. I can talk to him anytime I want to, and he always hears. I can depend on him with unwavering confidence. I know without question he loves me and will be with me. I also know that he left here to go and prepare a place for me, and one day I will spend all eternity with him. As Billy Graham once said:
” Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am now in a place of preparation. This is the training ground for the reward of Heaven. I love my husband, family, and friends as much as humanly possible, but I love the one who knows me best and still loves me more. I long for the day he will take me home. I can take Billy Graham’s name out of the quote and place mine there. Can you? Do you have a relationship with this ultimate friend?
