Friends of GOD and heart of GOD (I)

August is our Friendship Month in my church; and this year, we are mainly focusing on what friends of GOD are entitled to and can expect from Him: blessings, rest/protection, secrets and increased productivity. To make sure I don’t miss any of these, I have identified a few friends of GOD in the Bible and tried to understand what GOD loved in them. Let’s start with Abraham. 

Three men visited him and as they were about to leave, one of them, the Lord, wondered: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” and he revealed a secret to him. He told him that He was coming down because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was great and their sin was very grave (Gen 18:17, 20). Abraham understood that this was not going to be a simple inspection. He understood that GOD was set to destroy those cities and he began to plead: “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?” He was not selfish. he was not a tribalist or a nepotist. He could have made a quick mental count of his nephew’s family of less than ten people and then plead for them only; but he negotiated way above that count. The first lesson I take from this is that if we are to become friends of GOD, we must have a large heart. We must learn to sincerely care for those who are not our friends or family members. This is why Jesus asked the disciples: If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same (Lk 6:32-33).

Finally, Abraham traded the salvation of the city for ten righteous people. He did not go further down because he never envisioned the possibility that some members of his nephew’s household would not be saved. He was convinced that none of them were concerned by GOD’s judgement. By settling down for ten people, he actually thought he could save one, two or three other citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah. But the Bible tells us that when GOD’s messengers told Lot to take everything that belonged to him out of the city because of its impending doom, Lot spoke to his sons-in-law but they refused to listen to him. So he only left with his wife and the two daughters who were not yet married (Gen 19:12-15). He lost other daughters, sons-in-law and maybe some grandchildren as well in the fire – and we know what eventually happened to his wife. Likewise, many parents usually fail to realize that their children do not share their faith and are from the LORD. They think that dragging them to church every Sunday is enough and they are not aware of the fact that if GOD were to come down, their little darlings would inevitably miss the call.

The second lesson that I get from Abraham’s intercession is that if he had known that there were not even ten righteous in the city, he would have kept on pleading. He stopped because he was certain ha had “won”. His goal was not to save his family – if not, he would have never started the negotiations at 50 but at 10. His goal was to save those cities, in spite of their despicable sins. Nowadays, many Christians spend their time not interceding – pleading for – but inviting GOD to strike and destroy everything that they deem detestable. This is how the sons of thunder, James and John, wanted to command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans who had refused to receive Jesus. Jesus rebuked them sternly and reminded them that He had not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them (Lk 9:52-56).

All this is just a reminder that we need to be compassionate and merciful as our Father is. It is a reminder that, actually, GOD does not desire the death of the wicked at all. On the contrary, His will is for the sinner to repent, convert, be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1Tim 2:4). The friends of GOD love His will above everything else. May His will – to save the sinners – be done. GOD loved Abraham because he had a large, compassionate and merciful heart like His. 

Have a great week in Christ Jesus, pleading for people and becoming friend with Him.