I recently came back from a weekend trip to Scotland to visit with my friend Keiran. Also on the same trip was another friend of ours, Lekha. The three of us serve on the Product Support Team of the YouVersion Bible App. While Keiran and Lekha are staff members, I serve as volunteer Coach/Team Lead.
It is quite funny how we actually decided on this weekend trip. Keiran had visited England a few months ago and stayed in the town where I live. Lekha who also lives in England travelled to my town and we had a weekend of fellowship as well as visits to London, touring Buckingham Place and the House of Parliament. It was towards the end of his visit that Keiran asked me, “Have you been to Scotland?”. I responded that I hadn’t been before. He replied in shock, “What? You’ve never been to Scotland?” Lekha and I laughed so hard because Keiran had never visited London before his first visit and seeing the shock on his face on hearing I had never visited Scotland was a rib-cracker. There and then, the decision was made for Lekha and I to visit Scotland.
Meeting Keiran at Glasgow Airport was like old friends meeting again after many years. You wouldn’t believe that we had only a few months ago seen each other and have been on constant touch through calls, text messages as well as on the YouVersion Teams chat.
There is something unique and deep about Christian friendship. It has a depth to it that is beyond mere human reasoning. I remember Lekha and I having breakfast at the hotel while waiting for Keiran to pick us up. We didn’t realise we had been sitting for almost two hours talking about God’s faithfulness and sharing experiences until we got a text from him that he had arrived at the hotel.
The driving trips were such an awesome experience. One minute, we would be joking and laughing at each other, the next minute, a song would come up on the car audio system and we would just begin a time of worship and prayer.
As I reflected on my trip to Scotland, spent with such wonderful friends of mine, I am reminded that this is the kind of friendship Jesus invites us into. “*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*.” John 15:15.
What is the difference between a master/servant relationship and that of friends? A master, no matter how close he is to the servant, would not disclose important and intimate knowledge about himself to the servant. He would only give instructions to the servant with information on a need to know basis. A close friend however shares things about himself or herself at the most intimate level because of the deep level of trust and love existing between them.
When I think about the fact the Jesus loves me enough to call me friend in spite of my imperfections, It fills me with a sense of deep gratitude, joy and awe. There is no condition or demands, just simply an invitation to be friends with the One without whom the earth would have been created.
Spending time with my friends Keiran and Lekha gave me a sense of the love and joy that comes with being friends with Jesus. I remember saying this to my friends, “I really appreciate the friendship and fellowship we have here. This isn’t something that money can buy”. They both agreed.
Do you have a sense of being alone? Do you feel like you do not have anyone in your life you can call a friend? You can start by accepting Jesus as your friend. Before long, He will bring other friends into your life who will share the joy and fellowship that your heart really craves.
*Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.* 1 Thessalonians 5:11
