You say you know Him...

...but are you truly God's Friend?

Mat. 7:13,14 “13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 “Because narrow is the gate and difficult [confined] is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

I used to think of those on the ‘broad way’ as going in the opposite direction to those on the ‘narrow way’, but the picture that has come to my mind in recent years is that of a multitude headed in the right general direction but missing the ‘narrow gate’. Jesus begins to illustrate this further a few moments later in vs. 21-23: “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

“you who practice lawlessness”? But they were doing all the right things! How can this be? “I never knew you...”, He says, “We never spent time together. You did not become my friend.” Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Jesus has called us to be His friends. Speaking to the 12 on His last night before being crucified, He tells them, “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.” (John 15:15) A short time earlier (Jn. 14:17), He had told them, “the Spirit of truth ... dwells with you and will be in you.” He is indeed ‘a friend who sticks closer than a brother’. He expands on this in John 16:7,13,14, “7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

This year, my church is taking a ‘journey of journaling’ together, and I am excited, not just for myself, but for our church. Anything that will encourage those who do not already have a regular devotional time with God and His Word to begin do so, is a good thing. John 14:26 says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” The Bible is, for us now, “all things that I said to you.” How can He “teach you all things” unless you make the time to pray (make conversation), and how can He “bring to your remembrance” His Word unless you first read it? We must read the Word in an attitude of prayer. As A.W. Tozer said, “To truly understand a scripture requires an act of divine inspiration equal to that given to the writer.”