Friend of God

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FRIEND OF GOD

John 15:9-17

9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

NIV

It seems like we make a lot of serving our Lord, of doing things for the benefit of the kingdom. Paul makes it clear that it is God whom he serves by preaching the gospel. Jesus quoted an Old Testament law recorded in Deuteronomy,

Luke 4:8

"It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"  

NIV

Although this was in response to the Devil offering Jesus the world if he would only but worship him. The Greek word translated as serve in its first sense means to serve for hire, but the only thing that is connected to wages is sin. God’s gift is not for hire, it is a free gift. So then this service has to have a deeper or alternative meaning. It does carry the meaning of minister that is, to minister to God, to pay homage to Him. So then it would seem appropriate to say Jesus was saying worship that is like a dog kisses the hand of his master, to fawn, or crouch, i.e. to prostrate oneself in homage. It is interesting how we make such a big deal about serving the Lord, by some sort of works, but our “worship” does not reflect anything of the meaning of the word. We say we are worshipping God when we sing a few songs in church, but then do we look like we are worshipping? Is just standing there, barely singing, with little to no expression on our face, our hands, in our pocket, so to speak, considered worship compared to the way God sees worship?  How is that worship? Is that what worship is supposed to be. Then we have Paul telling us we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our spiritual or reasonable act of worship. It is interesting the Greek word translated as worship is from the same root word that is used as service. All this is interesting by comparing service and worship and perhaps they are interchangeable which means we may not have fulfilled this in our corporate gatherings or in our daily lives. But the point Jesus was making is that we are not his servants, at least we are not in the sense of being a servant for hire. No, Jesus has made it clear the difference between a servant and a friend is knowledge. A Master does not inform his servants of his business, they are just hired hands. It is much like our employers, they do not share every corporate decision with all the employees. Oh, they tell us what they want us to know, but only for the purpose so we will work diligently to produce their desired results or profits. No, Jesus says that he no longer calls us servants, but friends, because he has told us everything. We have full knowledge of the business of God. Nothing has been kept from us. That is what friends are like. That may be why we use that term, friend, so sparingly. We have a lot of acquaintances, people we know their name, and either work beside or go to church with, but if they have not told us all their business, everything about their lives, their desires, their choices, their total net worth, everything, even their sin, and on the reverse of the coin, have we divulged everything about us to them. If not, then can we say we are friends in the sense Jesus calls us a friend? However, he has called us friends and that means we have the full knowledge of the business of God. We know everything, nothing has been kept from us, no secrets, and no hidden agenda. That is the most excellent way to live, having all the knowledge about the business of God. Still, that does not release us from worship, for we will always worship, always pay homage, always revere and prostrate ourselves before our God, for He is the giver of life, our creator, our Lord, and God. Nevertheless, he still sees us as not only as holy and blameless but also as his friend.