Scripture Focus:
John 15:15 (NIV) — “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.”
A lot of us treat our quiet time with God like a performance review.
We open the Bible and quietly brace ourselves for the part where we do not measure up, picturing God as patient but always a little disappointed in us. So we approach Him carefully, trying to clean ourselves up before we come close, expecting that any time alone with Him will be another chance for Him to point out what we are doing wrong or how we are not measuring up.
The good news is that this is not how Jesus comes to us. In John 15, on the night before He went to the cross, Jesus said something surprising to His disciples. He told them, “I no longer call you servants. I have called you friends.”
He does not relate to us as employees or as students that He is constantly grading. He calls us friends. It means that He actually enjoys us, right now, today.
Jesus is not waiting for us to become more patient, more eloquent in our prayers, or less distracted before He wants to be with us. He does not sigh when we show up tired or with very little to give. He delights in us as we are, even while He is gently helping us grow.
We can stop performing and trying to hide the parts of our lives that feel messy, because we are allowed to be honest with Him about our doubts, our boredom, and our distraction. We can sit with Him without an agenda. Sometimes He will invite us toward something new or away from something that is hurting us, but not every moment with Him has to be about a checklist. Often, He simply wants to be with us and to let us know that we are loved.
And here is the beautiful part. The more time we spend with Him as a friend, the more we begin to notice what He notices and care about what He cares about, until we find ourselves looking a little more like Him. This does not happen because we have tried harder, but because it is what naturally happens when we spend real time with someone we love.
You are His friend right now, not the future version of you, but the you who is reading this.
Weekly Challenge:
This week, spend a few minutes with Jesus without an agenda or a list. Just be with Him the way you would be with a friend you love, enjoy Him, and let Him enjoy you.