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Friendship with Jesus, May 23
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
John 15:14
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The character and course of the Christian is in marked contrast to that
of worldlings. The Christian cannot find pleasure in the amusements and
in the varied scenes of gaiety of the world. Higher and holier attractions
engage the affections. Christians will show that they are the friends of God
by their obedience. “Ye are my friends,” says Christ, “if ye do whatsoever
I command you.... If ye were of the world, the world would love his own:
but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you.”
Christ is your rock and your fortress. Unto His name the righteous
runneth and are safe.... The righteousness and excellency of His require-
ments are not comprehended by the world, who look upon the religion of
Christ as a yoke of bondage, a surrender of their liberty. Each of God’s
requirements is an order to become wise, rich, and noble by uniting our
weak strength with the power of the Infinite. While following the footsteps
of Christ we need never blush, for our conscience will never reproach
us. His service is always reasonable. His work is always honorable and
glorious. Our friends who desire us to choose the pleasures of the world
and to conform to the customs of the world, who look upon us as obstinate,
can have no claims upon us that bear any comparison with the claims of
Christ....
The value of man as God estimates him is through his union with
Christ; for God is the only One able to raise man in the scale of moral
worth through the righteousness of Christ. Worldly honor and worldly
greatness are of just that value that the Creator of man places upon them.
Their wisdom is foolishness, their strength weakness.
Let us value what God esteems. True elevation of character is found
alone through Christ. Our Saviour imputes His righteousness to the man
who yields to Him his heart’s best and holiest affections. Our value is in
proportion to our alliance to God.
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