Day 11: Becoming Best Friends with God

I have a friend in New York City. We met when we were four years old. He's less than a month older than me and has a brother that is the same age as my sister. We grew up on the same block in Brooklyn. We were best friends all the way up till 4th grade. Then I moved away with my mom and only saw him in the summer. I may have written or called him a few times from Miami, but obviously I didn't see him often. We each made new friends through middle school and high school. But, my 10th grade year, I moved back to Brooklyn.

We would be going to the same school again. What I found out was that we were still best friends. He made sure I was welcomed and accepted and not picked on cause I talked funny to all those Brooklyn Kids. "This is Florida John." He would introduce me to his friends and they would consider me their friend by association. To this day, he's still my best friend on earth. I don't call him as much as I should, and we never get to spend time together, but if I needed him, he would be there for me and I would be there for him. We're guys and not talking doesn't impact our friendship.

But, I have another Best Friend. God wants to be my best friend. That He wants to have that kind of relationship with me is one I had never considered growing up. God wants me to love and worship Him sure, but that the Almighty God wants to hear about my day and chat with me is hard to grasp. I am nothing compared to Him, dust beyond notice. But the Bible tells us He knows me intimately. He wants me to know Him too. He's already shown me how much He loves me, He's just waiting for me to show Him that I love Him in return. Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved is God's greatest pleasure. I make God's day when I spend time with Him.

We become friends with someone through conversation. We become best friends with God through constant conversation. I already said that I'm not good at just 'talking' to God. Maybe it was growing up in New York seeing crazy people walking around talking to themselves, maybe it was the ritualistic Catholic upbringing. Church is where God is and we pray to Him there. (And from the foot of our beds) No place is any closer to God than the place where you are right now. God is right here, right now.

But this doesn't tell me just to Pray to God. Conversation is talking, God wants to chat. He doesn't want me to just give Him a spot on my daily planner, He wants to be involved in everything I do. Every choice I make should start with the question: 'What do you think God?' And I should respect what He says. Now I know that He's not going to answer me in an obvious manner. There will be no neon sign above the right road to take, no mysterious highlighter that only I can see underlining the correct answer. But God will always answer, even if it's with silence. Silence from God means He wants to see if I've been paying attention.

We become friends with someone by learning more about them. What's your name? Where are you from? What do you do for a living? God's short answer to that is 'I AM'. When Moses asked God who he should tell Pharaoh and the Israelites sent him to lead them. God answered 'I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'(Exodus 3:14) But, that was in a two way conversation with Moses, God was speaking directly to him. I don't see a lot of burning bushes these days that aren't being consumed by the flames. So, how can I know more about God?

We learn more about God through continual meditation. I have His story, all 66 books of it. I can read it from cover to cover and know everything I need to know about God. And the more I read and think on it, the more I'll know Him. He gave us this great gift that we would have to seek Him out.

You can't love God unless you know Him, and you can't know Him without knowing his Word. I need to expand my knowledge of God's Word. I know the big events, the stories everyone learns, But what do I know about Obadiah, or what happened in the Book of Malachi? All of the stories make up who God is. And thinking about them will bring me closer to knowing God and becoming His best friend.

I love the line: If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Just by thinking about the stories I do know I can learn more about God. If I add to them, I'll know Him even better. I think that's a great purpose to have. I will work on putting God's Word above all else. In Psalm 119 Verse 11 David tells God "I have hidden your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." David was considered a friend of God!

Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence Him.
Psalm 25:14 (LB)

It's no surprise that the last three verses have come from the Book of Psalms. Like I have said, David was the wisest man ever, and he was a friend of God.

The question today is: What can I do to remind myself to think about God and talk to Him more often during the day? I've been working on this already, I bring my Bible to work. I talk to Him on my ride to and from work, and this book sure is helping. I think I might try the hourly prayer tonight. Every hour I will just take five minutes to pray. And while I'm working, I will talk to God.

Remember: God wants to be my best friend.