The Journey Continues: What a Friend!

 

"The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks with a friend." - Exodus 33:11a

One of my late mom's favorite hymns was "What a Friend we have in Jesus". Today, as I read the passage above in my devotions, the lyrics of that well-known hymn came to my mind: 

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!

Recently, I lost a friend and coworker of mine, someone I'd known for 45 years. Over the decades we'd spent several hours in conversation, shared lunches, and lazy summer afternoons at the beach after work. When I heard of his passing I was devastated. It motivated me to cultivate deeper friendships that go beyond Facebook: friendships that invest in time and face-to-face conversations. 

My devotions today referenced the first 14 verses of the 33rd chapter of Exodus. I was particularly drawn to verse 11, where it says that the Lord would speak to Moses "as one speaks to a friend." As I thought of the friend I'd just lost, friends that I have made over the decades, and friends that I am making now, I realized that my deepest friendship is with the Lord. And it's a friendship that I want to truly deepen. It's a friendship that I've been cultivating over these last few years with daily conversational prayer, sojourning through The Word, and immersing myself with thankfulness. It's a friendship that, while I am mourning the loss of an earthly friend, this Heavenly Friend is there to console me, and tell me that there is Hope - the Hope of the Resurrection. 

What a friend we have - in Jesus. 

Soi Deo Gloria