6月1日
标 题：神的朋友
经 节：以后我不再称你们为仆人，因仆人不知道主人所做的事。我乃称你们为朋友；因我从我父所听见的，已经都告诉你们了。（约翰福音十五章15节）
作神的朋友不是你的选择，作神的朋友乃是出自神的邀请。旧约中清楚记载，有两个人是“神的朋友”。亚伯拉罕与神亲密同行，神称他是祂的朋友（以赛亚书四十一：8）。摩西与神面对面像朋友一样地谈话（出埃及记卅三：11）。
神真正的本性是愿意作我们的朋友。在我们无以为报的情况下，祂以完全的爱来爱我们，并且赐下救恩给我们。某人愿意把自己奉献给神，和神主动开始一份特殊的友谊，是两回事。大卫全心全意地将自己奉献给神（列王纪上十一：4）。大卫虽然不是无罪，然而他爱神。大卫厌恶罪恶（诗篇一○三：3），他热爱敬拜神（诗篇一二二：1），他真诚地喜爱神的同在（撒母耳记下六：14），他喜爱谈论神（诗篇卅四：1），他敏锐地知道自己所犯的过错（诗篇五十一：3～4），他不求回报，喜爱献上诗歌、感谢与赞美的礼物给神（诗篇一○○篇）。大卫与神是那么亲密地同行，耶稣被钉十字架时，心里想的就是祂的话（马太福音廿七：46）。
耶稣称自己的门徒为朋友。祂说祂会将天父赐予自己的一切分享给他们，因为他们是祂的朋友。祂与门徒彼此关系亲密，祂愿意与自己的朋友分享心中的意念。
倘若你不认为自己是神的朋友，你当全心全意地定意寻求神。
Friends of God
“No longer
do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing;
but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I
have made known to you.” (John 15:15)
You do not choose to be a friend of God. That is by invitation only.
Only two people in the Old Testament were specifically described as “friends of
God.” Abraham walked with the Lord so closely that God referred to him as His
friend (Isa. 41:8). Moses spoke to God face to face as a man speaks with his
friend (Exod. 33:11).
By His very nature God is a friend to us. He loves us with a perfect
love and reaches out to us with salvation when we can offer Him nothing in
return. It is quite another thing when someone has a heart so devoted to Him
that God initiates a special friendship. David’s heart was totally devoted to
God (1 Kings 11:4). Although David was not sinless, he loved God. David hated
sin (Ps. 103:3); he loved to worship God (Ps. 122:1); he took genuine delight
in God’s presence (2 Sam. 6:14); he loved to speak about God (Ps. 34:1); he was
keenly aware of his transgressions (Ps. 51:3–4); and he delighted in offering
gifts of song, thanksgiving, and praise, asking for nothing in return (Ps.
100). So closely did David walk with God that his words were on Jesus’ mind as
He hung upon the cross (Matt. 27:46).
Jesus called His disciples friends. He said He would disclose to them
things that the Father had shared with Him, because they were His friends.
There developed such an intimate friendship between them that He would share
what was on His heart with His friends.
If you cannot describe yourself as a friend of God, commit yourself to
seek after God with all your heart.
