Best Friends Forever

John 15:15
"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.

A very special event happened some years ago on October 31. No, it wasn't Halloween, with thoughts of extra candy at hand. And it wasn't the "beginning" of the Protestant Reformation—for all you spiritually and historically minded people reading this.

It was something quite personal: the birth of our fourth child, Charity, occurred early on the morning of October 31.

She is our last child . . . I promise. She is the child of my "old age," as I often remind her.

As I was sifting through some old notes recently, I came across a story which told the beginning of a tradition that Charity and I still carry on to this day.

When she was around two-and-one-half years old, she could not pronounce her r's. I remember her coming into our bedroom one evening with some of her favorite books and asking me to read them. She snuggled down beside me on a pillow and smiled really big as I opened to the first page. But before I began to read, she looked up at me and said, "You'we my best fwiend."

I have to admit she said the same thing to her mother as well, but she didn't mean it quite the same way as when she said it to me. You'll just have to trust me on that one!

A few days after that incident she went up to her mother and announced, "I'm gonna go see my fwiend named Daddy."

That started it. From that day to this, we have observed a tradition that has continued now into her high school years—a tradition I cherish. She and I will say to one another at different times, "We'll be best friends forever."

That's why whenever October 31 rolls around in the Davey household, nothing—not even a national party or an ecclesiastical event—can hold a candle to the celebration of my daughter and the reminder that we will be friends... forever.

As I began thinking of that sentimental little promise I share with Charity, I considered how God has so clearly given the same message to us throughout Scripture.

We are His children now—adopted through the finished work of His own beloved Son. And it doesn't end there as if salvation were nothing more than a cold theological transaction.

It is much more personal. In fact, we are not just regenerated disciples of Christ but someone He considers His "friends."

Although Paul elsewhere will call himself a bond servant to Christ, as well as a slave to righteousness, he also reveals the remarkable truth that what ultimately defines our relationship to our Lord is everlasting friendship.

Let this thought warm your heart today with greater affection for Him. He is revealed as many things in Scripture: a consuming fire, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Great Counselor, and a righteous Judge, among other titles.

But for those who have accepted Him by faith alone, He is something far more personal and intimate to us all: He is our friend.

In fact, we will be best friends . . . forever!

Prayer Point: As you open your Bible today, pull up a chair and imagine that you're sitting next to your best friend, eagerly awaiting the story He is about to read to you. Take time today to thank Him for being such a loving Friend who is always there for you.

Extra Refreshment: John 17, where Christ prays an intimate prayer to the Father, revealing the love that He has for you.

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