Join: Friends of God

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 Join: Friends of God

Perhaps you belong to a group called the "Friends of..."  You get their monthly e-updates and they ask you for financial support. If you do a search on 'friends of' you will see there are as few as 39,000,000 results or as many as 1,650,000,000 results. If you want to join a group of friends who share a common goal, it seems you have an almost infinite number of choices.

There's a cool group you should consider; maybe you are already in the group. This group transcends geographical boundaries. It is global in nature and is one of the oldest fraternities - thousands of years old. Some fabulously wealthy people are in the group but an incredible number of poor people belong too. They could never afford to pay membership fees or annual dues. They are financially poor; in fact, today their main concern is how to feed their family for the next eight hours. Isn't it awesome that despite all they don't have, they can still belong to this tight-knit group - this global fraternity! And then, there are many others who are neither rich nor poor and they belong too.

Are you in this group? Abraham, the Old Testament Bible character, belonged to this group. In fact, we could consider him one of the charter members because he goes back such a long ways. He was inducted into the group when he lived in the city of Ur in Iraq. What an honor it was for him. What an honor it is for any of us to belong to such a group. An incredible privilege!

Friends of God

Alphonsus, Adrianna, Bertha, Brad, Christina, Colin, Darlene, Dwayne, Eunice, Everett, Fred, Fran, Gerda, Graham, Hassad, Hanna, Ira, Isabel, Josh, Julie, Kendra, Keith, Lucas, Lauren, Monty, Missy, Nelson, Natasha, Oprah, Ollie, Percy, Pam, Quincey, Queenie, Rajiv, Raphaela, Steve, Samantha, Tom, Tracey, Ulric, Ursala, Vernon, Veronica, William, Wyonna, Xavier, Xellabonleah, Yves, Yvonne,  Zachary and Zalena, etc.  Oh yes, and Abraham.

Jesus said:

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

(John 15:14)

God told Abram (Abraham) to leave the pagan center of Ur and to go wherever He would take him. Abram believed and obeyed God. He left his home and many family members for only one reason: to obey the command of the Lord. (Genesis 12) Years later, God tested Abraham to see whom he loved most - his own son or the Lord. God told him to take his only son Isaac and offer him up as a sacrifice. (Genesis 22) Of course, God made sure it did not happen. But it was a test and Abraham passed with flying colors. He believed God and obeyed His command.

When we take God at His Word and obey His commands and do what pleases Him, we have the privilege of being called: Friends of God. Three times over in the Bible Abraham was called the 'friend of God'. What's the password into this privileged circle? Obedience.

Of course, the other fraternity available is "Friends of the World." (James 4:4) This is the circle of people who live for themselves rather than living for God and pleasing Him.

Today you have two options: Friends of the World or Friends of God. You know the passwords for both.

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.

Warmly in Christ

Peter Ramsay