Did you know there is someone who cares about everything that happens to you and who wants to share every moment of your life with you? He knows all about you already—all your likes and dislikes, your hopes and dreams and fears. He sees where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re headed. He understands the deepest longings of your heart. After all, he created you. He designed you to find your greatest fulfillment in a personal relationship—a very special friendship—with him.
It’s an invitation God has issued to every one of us since time began. But most of us have ignored this “friend request.” Maybe we just don’t recognize him or haven’t realized we need him. We naturally have our own ideas of how we want to live our lives and haven’t paid attention to the One who gave us our lives in the first place!
Unfortunately, when we aren’t friends with God, we miss out on an amazing friendship. In fact, we miss out on life itself—its purpose, its meaning, its significance. Not just in this life, but for eternity!
Violation of the “Terms of Use”
We’ve all violated life’s “terms of use.” They are really God’s terms of use! The consequence? Being eternally separated from God… and not just hidden from his “friends list” but “blocked” permanently!
Rejecting God’s “terms of use” is our choice, but the Bible says that God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). In fact, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Unlike us, Jesus didn’t commit any sins. He didn’t ignore God or violate any of his Father’s “terms of use.” Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life. And then—although he didn’t have to—Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, by dying on the cross. “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one….but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 3:10, 5:8).
With his death and resurrection three days later, Jesus made it possible for us to be forgiven and has given us an invitation to be his friends. Jesus promised that his friends will experience a love and a joy and a peace to which nothing in this world can compare. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you….These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full….Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives” (John 15:9,11;14:27).
He has promised to be with us through all of our ups and downs, each step of our life’s journey, every twist and turn along the way. He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
Life as we know it will one day come to an end, but our friendship with Jesus will go on forever—literally! He says there is a place called Heaven where he is going to prepare a place for those of us who have placed their trust in him, and will take us to live with him: “where I am [Heaven] you may be also” (John 14:3).
“Confirm” or “Ignore”?
If you were to receive a “friend request” from Jesus, would you confirm or ignore it? You don’t have to click on a link or log onto a website to reply, but you do have to make a choice. If you continue to ignore Jesus’ “request”—his offer to be your Savior—you will spend eternity separated from him.
But if you choose to “confirm,” you can tell him with a prayer from your heart like this: “Dear Jesus, forgive me for ignoring you for so long. Thank you for dying on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin so that I can be forgiven and be your friend. I understand you so much better now. I believe in you and place my complete trust in you for my eternal salvation. Please teach me what it means to be a true friend to you, just as you are a true friend to me. Amen.”
Jesus is a Friend unlike any other that you could ever have. How will you respond to all that he has done for you?