He Calls You Friend

You, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, Isaiah 41:8 

In Hebrew, “chiba” is the word for “love and affection”, while “chova” is for obligation, and another closely related word, “chaver” is “friend”. They are from the same root word and related.

Friends are people with whom we share love and affection and also a sense of obligation. Our God and Father wants us to be His friends, to share love and affection with Him and to carry the sense of responsibility and obligation which friendship requires.

Abraham was a friend to God. He believed and trusted His Friend, but he also came to share the awesome responsibility of that friendship. Abraham’s Friend, the Lord Himself, asked Abraham to become a living picture of His relationship with His own Son, Jesus, by offering his own beloved son Isaac on an altar at Mount Moriah. Abraham’s response to his Friend’s request expressed a level of commitment to the friendship which was probably unprecedented in all human history.

We find that the God of all creation desires an intimate friendship with us. He created us and loves us dearly. Yet, that friendship involves degrees of commitment that test the very frontiers of a relationship. If you are on one of those frontiers, you should count yourself blessed because not everyone is called “a friend of God.”

And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. James 2:23