Friend of GOD

Jesus called me HIS friend!!!!  So why does that scare me?

In John 15:15 HE calls me friend.  I read the verse again just yesterday.  The part that really stuck with me was this..."No longer do I call you servants...but I have called you friends".

So what is the difference between a servant and a friend?  I am comfortable with calling myself a servant of GOD.  I know what that means and I know what that looks like.  HE asks me to do something and I do it.  I owe HIM so much, even my life, that I consider it an honor to live to serve HIM!

But HE calls me friend...and I am struggling with that shift in our relationship.  It means so much to HIM that I do things for HIM because I want to.  HE would rather I obey because I love HIM rather than because I owe HIM.  HE calls me friend to let me know that HE doesn't see me as a robot to be mindlessly obedient, but as a human with a heart and mind, full of opinions HE designed for me to have, and I don't always have to agree.  HE wants to let me know that I only have to ask HIM and I can be privy to the secrets of eternity, the smell of the universe, and the heart of the Father.  Servants aren't in on the Master's plans...but friends are...

Friendships are also harder to maintain than jobs.  It takes committment to each other, time spent with each other, hearts covering each other.  Jesus calls me friend because HE wants to spend time with me, not just dismiss me when the job is done.  I have heard that the best servants are the ones you never have to see; they just do their job and get out of the way, but HE wants to share HIS heart with me, and hear mine in return.  That takes time being spent together, listening to each other.  Friendship goes much deeper that simple servanthood.

Mistakes also mean more when they happen in a friendship than when they are done by a servant.  I mess up as a servant, there will be discipline and no hard feelings. Make a mistake in your friendships, well,  that's a whole lot more personal.  There will be broken hearts and lingering hurts.  Yes, friends forgive, but I don't want to be the one hurting HIM in the first place.  I've done that enough already! 

So it takes a risk to be a friend.  And when that friend is as big as Jesus, that's a lot of risk!

I guess I figured out why I am incredibly humbled and more than a little intimidated by being called HIS friend.  Being a friend of Jesus is going to be a lot harder than being HIS servant, but I want it!  I want that kind of relationship with HIM!