How many friends do you have?
If I were to ask you how many friends you had, what would you say? Well, you could start with all your friends at school, then at church and last but not least those outside of Church, and don’t forget those on Facebook and Twitter. We are part of the generation, where the number of friends and followers that we have on social networking sites shows how popular we are and how good we are at socialising. We all have many friends but, let me introduce you to my true best friend.
I Have a Very Special Friend
My one and only all-time star is Jesus. What a great friend he is. Yes, the friendship of God can be a reality in our lives. Many people say that they are lonely, depressed, sad and unloved, but isn’t that because we reject Jesus’ friend request, yet accept all the requests of strange and random people? Jesus constantly longs to be our friend, he said “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) He stands knocking at the door of our hearts, ready to enter when we let him in. Nicholas Sparks, a well-known American novelist, said “Never forget that God is your friend. And like all friends, He longs to hear what’s been happening in your life. Good or bad, whether it’s been full of sorrow or anger, or even when you’re questioning why terrible things have to happen.” 1 Peter 5:7 and Psalm 55:22 tell us to give everything in our life to Jesus, including problems and worries because he loves and cares for us. I have heard young people say that they couldn’t live without their make-up, phone or without their twenty pairs of shoes, but I would say that we can’t live without Jesus. Jesus says in John 15:16 ” You did not choose me but I chose you.”
We Don’t Need Anyone Else
Jesus never leaves us on our own. A true friend would do anything for you. We know that Jesus is our true friend because he selflessly gave us his life as a sacrifice for us. As a gift he poured out his blood for us. We remember this each time the Holy Eucharist is celebrated, when he offers us again his body and his blood. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice to be our friend to the end of time. Nicholas Sparks also said, “the best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.” When we fully receive Jesus as our best friend and companion, we will realise that we don’t need anyone else. We experience the desire to be with him every second of our lives, a consuming fire within us is ignited to love him more and we experience an unexplainable kind of peace, because he gives the peace that the world cannot give (John 14:27). We won’t need to update our statuses regularly and see how many more friends and followers we have gained. When Jesus is in our lives, we have the fullness of the Holy Trinity, because in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19) and so therefore we will have an abundant life with him (John 10:10).
It is Jesus that People Lack
Pope Benedict XVI when talking to a group of children said, “People do not know that it is precisely Jesus they lack. But they feel that something is missing in their lives. If God is absent from my life, if Jesus is absent from my life, a guide, an essential friend is missing, even an important joy for life, the strength to grow as a man, to overcome my vices and mature as a human being.” He also said “We really need God’s friendship, which helps us to make the right decisions.” To make these right decisions in our life, we need to first of all accept that friend request from Jesus!
Written by Gitty George