Best Friend

You are my friends if you do what I command.

John 15:14

Do you have a best friend? There aren’t too many relationships as sweet as those shared by best friends. Maybe you can name several who have filled that role for you throughout your life. Isn’t it amazing that we can all share the same Best Friend, Jesus?

When I read a verse like the one for today, it makes me think what it must have been like to walk this earth as a friend of Jesus. The disciples were His companions, and He was always teaching them what it meant to be His friend. He knew all that was coming and how it would affect them, so He encouraged them to follow His lead. His words of caring direction showed how deep His love was for each of them.

Jesus was fully human, and He had best friends too. Of course, He chose His disciple friends wisely! If I were to guess which of them He’d call a best friend, I’d choose John. I call their twosome friendship “The Special Js.”

John wrote about his firsthand experience with Jesus in the Gospel of John, followed by three very personal “sticky notes”—1, 2, and 3 John. John was known as the beloved disciple (John 13:23; 20:2), and he was the man Jesus entrusted with the care of His mother, Mary, as He was dying (John 19:26-27). John also outran Peter to Jesus’ tomb (John 20:2-4) because he was so anxious to see what had happened to his Best Friend.

And how precious it is that Jesus’ best earthly friend was the one God chose to write Jesus’ words in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, to encourage us and prepare us for His final coming and to offer us a glimpse of what’s ahead. John’s life of obedience to Jesus’ mission after He ascended to heaven attests to the fact that their friendship was genuine.

I love these examples of how personal Jesus is to His followers—He loves building friendships with us. He knows we need Him as a Best Friend, and He wants to help us all discover that special relationship with Him.

Let’s seek the company of our Best Friend and spend time with those who share that same friendship with Him. Only in Christ can we all have the very same Best Friend.