Are you a friend of God?

Who is a friend? We can define a friend as someone you love and is a part of your life. Someone who supports you and you enjoy a close relationship with them. Both of you are willing to sacrifice something for each other in times of need.

Are you a friend of God? Do you know what it means to be a friend of God? In the Bible, we see many people who were friends of God e.g Moses, Abraham, Joseph, David and many more. Their lives proved in many ways that they were certainly friends of God. They respected God’s voice in their lives and they always sought after God’s will in their lives.

Let’s have a look at the life of David. The life of David begins in 1st Samuel :16 when prophet Samuel is sent to anoint him. He was just a small shepherd boy who spent his time in the wilderness looking after His father’s sheep. It must have been in the wilderness that David learnt to trust in God. When God rebuked Saul for disobeying him, he stated that he had found a man after his own heart who he was going to establish as a king in Israel (1st Samuel 13:14).

The life of David was full of ups and downs. He spent his early years running away from Saul who sought to kill him out of jealousy. David is constantly seen asking God whether or not he should strike his enemies. His relationship with God was so close that he relied on God’s response before taking any action.  In two instances, Davis spared Saul’s life even when he had a chance to kill him. (1st Samuel 24 and 26). He clearly stated that he would not kill Saul because he was still the anointed and reigning king. David respected the fact that Saul was anointed by God.

David continued to respect and obey God even in his life. As a king, David danced until his clothes fell off. Michal, his wife, considered this a disgrace for a king. To David, he was just pleasing his heavenly father. He cared less about what people would think about him as long as he pleased the Lord.

From his life, we see that being a friend of God means making a decision to follow Him regardless of the situation. It means being in constant communication with God. Just like we work hard to maintain constant communication with our earthly friends, so should we work hard to maintain our friendship with God. He enjoys our conversations with Him.

God honors a pure heart. David’s heart was pure. Imagine being a king, your son overthrows you and even tries to kill you. You choose to run away for your life and not harm him. When he is finally killed in the battlefield, you go ahead and mourn for him though he is your son, he has turned into an enemy and even slept with your wives. David was an exceptional an. God always fought for his battles and defended him against his enemies.

This quality is also seen when he chooses to honor Mephibosheth , Jonathan’s son, out of the covenant he had with his father. Jonathan loved David and he played a big role in defending David from his father saul. David remained loyal to their covenant by honoring his son. He could have chosen to forget the covenant after Jonathan was dead.

Being a friend of God also means that you will attract a lot of favor and opposition at the same time. There will be people who will be jealous of your life and there will be those who will favor you. God’s favor will always outdo any evil plans and weapons fashioned against you. David was surrounded by loyal servants and at the same time by people who sought after his life.

In being a friend of God, we have to live in his presence every day. We need to keep communicating with him. Our hearts ought to be pure and in a sober state of mind. It means that God trusts you with a lot of important tasks in his kingdom. 

Faith is also important in your relationship with God. David walked by faith. He had confidence in every word that came out of God’s mouth. He fought and won battles that wouldn’t have been easy to fight if he had no faith in God. He was just a young boy when he killed Goliath. He later on expanded the territories of Israel on all sides as a king.

David desired to build a temple for God. It displeased him that he dwelt in a nice house but the ark of covenant had no permanent place. This desire clearly shows that David’s heart was after pleasing God. Other kings would have sought pleasures and wealth but David desired to have a temple for God. This is the kind of friendship that God appreciates. He appreciates when we seek to establish his kingdom in our capacities.

May the Lord help us cultivate our friendship with him that in everything we do, we may please him. The Lord appreciates obedience more than any other thing. This is the secret that David knew. When you obey God, you follow his word and do the right thing. It is never in vain to obey God.

Choose to make God your friend today.