Our Original Friend

Our Original Friend

I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

My sister Katrina died from breast cancer when she was twenty-eight, just two days after I turned twenty-two. The sibling squabbles of our youth had developed into a deep friendship after high school, and I counted her among my closest friends.

Katrina was fun and funny, and her death left an aching chasm in my life. There were many days when I would be caught off guard by how much I missed her. I’d hear the sound of her voice on her home answering machine or drive by T.J. Maxx (her favorite store) or see someone wearing chartreuse (her favorite color) and feel grief rise up like a mighty wave to swallow me whole. It seemed incomprehensible that life could continue to go on around me without pause.

But it was in those early days of grief, when my family members and I practically lived in each other’s pockets, that I began to experience the friendship of God. From a young age, he had been my Savior. Yet it was only now, in that place of quiet desperation and sorrow, that I began to recognize him as Lord. As I prayed, the truths spoken in the Word of God echoed in my heart. That he had plans for me. That he was the same yesterday, today, and forever. That he would provide a place of rest. That when I felt weak, he would give me strength. That he would give me his peace. That no power could ever separate me from his love.

They were verses I had memorized as a child. But now, as an adult, they became lifelines. In the book of John, Jesus explains that we are not slaves, but friends. This is an important transition: rather than simply expecting us to follow orders, he makes us his trusted confidants. As our original friend, Jesus wants to comfort us when we mourn and celebrate with us when we are joyful, yet he can only do so if he has been invited. Like any true relationship, friendship with Jesus is never a one-way street.

— Kristin

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Thank Jesus for his friendship. If you don’t consider him a friend yet, pray that he will reveal himself to you as your original friend.