Jesus is the best kind of friend for sinners because He came into the world to save them. We never have to walk through this life alone because Jesus extends to us the deepest of friendships. I love the way Spurgeon says it: “The devil will tell you that Jesus is a hard master, but he is a generous friend.”

We were made to walk closely with our God who has created us- just as Adam and Eve walked with God in perfect communion before sin entered the world. As Christians we tend to struggle with holding these 2 glorious truths in equal balance: Jesus is our sovereign Lord and King; and at the same time He is our most precious friend who always invites us to draw near to Him. Often in the difficulties of life we start relating to God as a distant ruler who is disappointed in our failures rather than our loving heavenly Father who constantly extends kindness and grace to us.

The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (Exodus 33:11) We do not have a distant God. Jesus gave up all the glories of heaven to take on human flesh and to live the perfect life we are unable to. As Hebrews 14:15 says, we do not have a Savior who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Therefore, we can constantly draw near to Jesus with confidence, knowing we will find in Him mercy and grace to help in our time of need. The Lord knows who is His and His people know His voice; no one can ever snatch us out of His hand. 

Jesus is not indifferent to our burdens and suffering. He is the perfect friend who will never fail or forsake His own. He sticks closer than a brother. Jesus laid down His life for His friends, there is no greater love than that. His perfect love casts out all fear. He faithfully extends to us His grace and kindness on the darkest of days. Jesus is our ever-present friend who can alone heal and satisfy the deepest longings of our heart.

This world will bring relational strife, and friends will come and go. Friends will let us down and we will let our friends down, yet in Jesus, we find the truest of friends. Through faith and repentance in Christ alone, we can enjoy the deepest of friendships. He is the friend who will love at all times. 

How can we know if we are Jesus’ friends? Do we strive to obey and honor Him? Our love for Jesus will continually produce in us a hatred for anything that hurts our Savior. Is Jesus who we turn to first and most in all of the troubles of life?  Do we invest time and energy to grow in our knowledge of and relationship with Jesus? On the best of days and on the worse of days, the Lord extends to us the deepest of friendship. May we long to walk deeply with Jesus all the days of our lives.