Jesus wants to share with us the deepest
thoughts of His heart. He sees us not as servants but as friends. This is
another level of relationship. A friend and a servant share different levels of
relationship. The master has no obligation to disclose what’s on his heart to
his servant. They are at the master’s behest because they are paid to do a job.
They are often not told of the plan the master has. Theirs is just to obey instruction.
Whereas a friend is given the privilege to know the master’s plan. And in verse
15, Jesus tells His disciples as well as us saying, “No longer do I call you slaves, for the
slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends,
for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known
to you.”
What He
is saying is this: “Do you know that I don’t consider you as servants but as friends?
As such I am sharing personal information with you. Whatever the Father has
shown me I am showing you. In our relationship there would be no barrier.” As our friend, Jesus wants to help us
realize our thoughts. He wants us to freely confide and reveal our thoughts and
feelings, without fear of being betrayed, just as He had freely made known His
heart and thoughts with us. He wants to eliminate our loneliness. He wants us
to take the time to meet with Him so that He can share with us His goals and
aspiration for our life. He wants us to talk to Him and find comfort and
encouragement in Him. In verse 16 we are shown the desire He has for us as His
friends. He wants us to be fruit-bearing believers. He tells us that He had set
us apart and appointed us so that we can go and bear fruit. Fruitfulness results
as we share intimate friendship with Him.
Love is such a critical part of the friendship
with Him and others that He reminded us time and again of the need to love. He
reiterates it again in verse 17, “This I command you, that you
love one another.” This kind of love starts with choice. It is making a decision to
love not “because of” but “in spite of”. This is what the Apostle Paul
identified as a fruit of the Spirit. It comes as a result of abiding in Christ.
As we abide in Him we find strength to love Him as well as others, and even the
unlovely. When our relationship with God is rightly aligned and we are walking
with Him, resting in Him and relying on Him, there will be one visible result:
we will be amazingly loving!
No comments:
Post a Comment