You’re smart. Just by glancing at the title of this story, you know where it’s going. But before you stop reading because you’ve already heard that Jesus is your best friend, stop and think about your other friends.
Friendships can be fickle, which is just a fancy word for unpredictable. But you like having friends. Who doesn’t? The risk of being a friend is usually worth the reward of having a friend.
But sometimes your friend decides to join the band and doesn’t have time to hang out with you. Maybe your best friend makes a new best friend over the summer. Or two of your friends may have a fight, blame you for it and never want to talk to each other or you again.
Who’s your friend then?
The answer is Jesus. The One who proved His friendship in a most amazing way. He gave His life. For you. A gift free for the taking. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Alive Again
The awesome thing is that Jesus is alive. That body the Romans took down from the cross is not in a cold cave anymore. Hasn’t been for a long time. Jesus is walking around, totally alive, with five big scars to prove He died for you. When He holds His hands out to say, “I am your friend,” you can see the nail holes that prove it.
Ah, but there’s the catch. Have you ever seen Him? Other than in paintings or in the movies, have you ever seen the nail holes? No. Not with your eyeballs, anyway.
So. Do you have a problem here? A friend you can’t see? If you think you can see only with eyeballs, you’ve got a problem. When Jesus was on earth, lots of people saw Him walking around. The sad thing is, only a few of all those who saw Jesus wanted to be His friend.
But Jesus doesn’t do the see-Me-with-your-eyeballs thing these days. Some day everyone will see Him. But right now there’s really only one good way to see Jesus.
With the eyes of your heart.
Eyes of Your Heart
Yes, your heart has eyes. When you use those eyes to see Jesus, that’s called faith. And faith is something that truly pleases Him. Seeing Jesus with your eyes of faith makes your friendship with Him more real, deeper.
You can see Jesus even when it’s pitch black inside your bedroom.
Reading the Bible helps the eyes of your heart to see Jesus. The more you read about Him, the more you understand how much He loves you, how much He understands you, and how close He is all the time.
But you have to look. Your Best Friend ever is right with you, always ready for you to see Him.
So here’s a big question: What are you doing to see Him better?
Never Changing
The best thing about having Jesus as your friend is that He never, ever changes. Jesus doesn’t have grumpy days or days when other friends are more important than you or days where He’s too busy to listen to you and get to know you better. Jesus is always there, always loving, always the Best Friend you could ever have. He’s closer to you than a twin brother joined at the hip.
So do you want to be Jesus’ friend? He said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). Jesus has already offered you His friendship, but friendship is a two-way thing, right? You’ll want to offer Jesus your friendship back.
Ask Jesus what He wants you to do. About everything. Listen with the ears of your heart. He’ll talk to you. And every time you do what He asks, your friendship with Him will grow.
Being friends with Jesus can be a really huge thing. It’s up to you how huge it gets.
How much do you want the world’s Best Friend?
