Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
As we considered last Friday and Saturday, Jesus remarkably calls us His friends (John 15:13-15) and reasonably expects that this new relationship with Him will transform our other relationships as well. Proverbs 18:24a tells us, “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly.” However, we need to make sure that our friendliness does not lead us in dangerous directions. The strong language of James 4:4 is sobering: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Jesus used similar powerful words in Matthew 12:39a when rebuking the sinful religious leaders who wanted to turn Him into a mere miracle-worker, just one more person to be used and abused at their wicked whims: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.” Jesus refused to be forced into interactions that were not based upon truthful love (see, as we studied Saturday, Proverbs 27:6, 17). Biblical friendships will not be manipulative and will not make us choose between what is divine and what is dubious (at best). Let us avoid negative relationships … and let us make sure that we are not leading others in ways weak – or worse. The words of yesterday’s Gospel song ring true: “I won’t lose a friend by heeding God’s call, For what is a friend, who’d want you to fall?”