Do you ever think about what it means to be a friend of God?  I do.  I wonder all the time.In the book of James, it says that Abraham was credited as being God’s friend.

Within the context of human relationships, in order to become someone’s friend, we must spend time with them.  We must ask questions, and listen for the answers in return, to really understand the heart of a person.  Is that what it takes to be God’s friend too?

What does it mean to really understand that you are loved by God and to love Him in return?  Does it mean we are thankful when He meets our needs?  Does it mean we choose to be obedient to Him?  Does it mean we place Him first in all our decisions?  I think it does mean those things, but also much more.

If we look at this scripture in Psalm 37:5-6 it says,

Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.

It says that we share our whole heart with Him, holding nothing back.  We aren’t afraid to give Him our dirt and our secrets and our desires.   (As if we could hide them from Him, anyway.) It means we trust Him to accomplish His will in our lives, even though we aren’t perfect, and we will never deserve His grace.  It says he’ll validate us.

“Validate”.  That word reminds me of going to the city, and parking in a big highrise structure, enjoying shopping from store to store, and then when I go to lunch, I suddenly remember to I ask the girl at the desk, “do you validate?”  She stamps my ticket and makes it ok for me to be there, and it doesn’t cost me a thing!

I know it may seem like a ridiculously simplistic analogy, but when He validates us, He makes it ok.  His grace and mercy in our lives don’t cost us anything, although it cost Him everything.

I don’t know about you, but I not only approve of my friends, I promote them.  I work hard to help them succeed.  It makes me happy when they do well.  I’m learning that it is the same way with Jesus.  I am striving to be His friend, and He cheers me on.  He wants to see me succeed, but so much more importantly, He wants to spend time with me.  He created me to be in relationship with Him. To know Him…    The way Ephesians 3 describes knowing Him:

¹⁹[That you may really come] to know [practically, ^[a]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses ^[b]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] ^[c]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and ^[d]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

I suppose the first step to actually knowing Him is wanting to know Him.  I do. I want to know Him. I want to love Him more.  This being February, the month where thoughts turn to love, I have decided to dedicate my thoughts and more time to understanding what it means to know and love my Heavenly Father.  After all, I am His and He is mine.