Jesus Said You Are My Friends

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do what I command.^"  John 15:13-14 (NIV)

Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus, The Christ, told His disciples that they were His friends.  He also said that to lay down one's life for a friend is the ultimate demonstration of love for him. 

Many of us have people in our lives that we call friends.  A real friend is someone very special.  Webster's dictionary defines a friend as one who is attached to another by affection or esteem; a favored companion.  Every one that we go to school with, work with, belong to the same club with, or live near is not our friend.  Every one who likes us or follows us on a social network is not really our friend.  We have a large number of acquaintances and associates, colleagues and co-workers, in our lives who are not really our friends.  A friend is some one who will go out of their way to maintain a relationship with us when there are no outside forces keeping us together.  They may not contact us everyday, but when they do there is a genuine love present.  There are some friends that stick closer to us than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)  We may have a friend who would be will to die for us.  But there is no friend like the friend we have in Jesus.  He is indeed truly our friend, and so much more than that.  He lived for us, He died for us, He rose for us, and now He intercedes for us.  We are His friends if we do what He says, so let us obey The Word of God.