What A Friend

Do you get nudges from God? A tap on the shoulder, directing you to “pay attention.” I know I do.

I recently read that God called Abraham his friend. And Jesus told his disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:14)

Wow! I am God’s friend! God is MY friend! Suddenly I heard that old Sunday School song in my head, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.” Just think of that. If I went somewhere with him, he would introduce me by saying, “This is my friend, Christine.”

Of course, the flip side of that coin is that I could introduce him to others: “This is my friend, Jesus.”

But do I?

Uh-oh, there’s that tap on my shoulder.

I have a friend who is closer than a sister. We send at least one email to each other daily, sometimes more than one in a day. And I check my email several times during the day to see if there is a message from her.

But how do I treat my friend Jesus? I write in my prayer journal every morning, then go about my day like that’s something checked off on my list and taken care of for the day. Do I think to tell him things throughout the day? Do I check to see if he has a message for me?

To my shame — not often. I eagerly rush to share details of my day with my earthly friend and to read about her day. While my very best friend, Jesus, stands patiently by waiting to hear from me.

Jesus said we should approach God like children. And how do children come to us? Usually with enthusiasm to share something they saw or something they did or a thought. And they don’t save it up to share with us at a set time of day. They come right away, as soon as they think of it. Multiple times a day they approach us to share some part of their day.

I think God wants us to be like that. A friend who will naturally turn to him to share things. “Did you see that?” we might ask. Or, “Wow, what beautiful flowers! Thank you!” Or, “Lord, this person is hurting, please help them.”

He wants us to turn to him in the moment. Because he is God of all the moments. Don’t say, “I will pray about this later.” Just do it, right then, in the moment.

When I share things with my earthly friend, I have to wait until I can get to my computer and turn it on. Or else painstakingly type it out on my phone — ugh! But there’s nothing like that between me and God. He is right there, in the moment — all I have to do is speak. And I don’t have to wait for him to pick up my email — he hears me instantly. No delay, no call waiting. Always connected.

Well, that’s my sad little story. Being imperfect, I probably still will forget a lot of the time. But hey, I can talk to him about that, too — ask him to help me remember. What a friend, indeed!