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Friends With God - Part 5

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.
John 15:15

The fourth building block to developing your friendship with God is choosing to obey Him! We normally think of obedience as a characteristic of our relationship to a parent, a boss or a superior officer, not a friend. But Jesus said, “You are My friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). True friendship isn’t passive; it acts. When Jesus asks us to love others, help the needy, give our finances (which actually are all God’s), keep our lives clean, offer forgiveness, and bring others to Him - love motivates us to obey immediately! Great opportunities usually come once in a lifetime, but small ones surround us every day. Through simple acts of obedience we bring a smile to God’s face. God treasures obedience more than all our religious tap dancing! Listen: “What pleases the Lord more. . .sacrifices or obedience. . .It is better to obey.” (1 Samuel 15:22). At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, God announced, “This is My beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him” (Matthew 3:17). What had Jesus been doing for 30 years that pleased God? The Bible says nothing except: “He was obedient” (Luke 2:51). Thirty years of pleasing God were summed up in two words: ‘lived obediently’! And guess what? The relationship Jesus had with His Father is the one He wants you to have with Him!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to be obedient to you in all I do, say, and think. In Jesus’ Name, Amen