You’ve Got a Friend in Me
As we were doing dramas on a local university campus, I noticed a guy with a skateboard watching. I turned towards him and he immediately asked, “What is DRIME?” I shared with him about how the dramas are about life, and how we all have struggles, but that we believe Jesus is the answer. I asked him what he believed and he shared that he grew up in a Catholic home, but doesn’t really belong to any religion. He believes that we are all connected, and that we are just children of the universe. He believes that there is something bigger out there, but that none of us can really know what that is.
This conversation got me thinking about religion, and how we as humans have many different religions that we can choose. There is a belief system for every taste. Often when I think about Christianity, I think about what makes it different than other religions. For me, the most significant thing is that we have a friend in Jesus. I love the fact that by believing in God, I have someone there to talk to whenever I need Him, and that He is with me in whatever I do. The friendship that we can have with God isn’t dependent on what we do or how good we are, but simply because God loves us and wants a relationship with us.
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In a world of conditional love and good deeds, this really is a revolutionary thought. How can it be that we get the love of God no matter what we do? If you are looking for love and fulfillment, we encourage you to think more about Jesus and the love he has for you. It’s there if you want it – all you have to do is receive it.
Tags: conversations, Drime, friend, Jesus, love, Talk, Vancouver
I appreciate that the author wants people to know that we cannot earn our salvation. We are saved by grace. We need to stop trying to earn our way to heaven. But we are not saved “simply because God loves us and wants a relationship with us.” We may not do anything, but something had to be done. Someone had to pay the penalty for our rebellion against God. God cannot save us just because He loves us. He can save us because Jesus took the wrath of God that was meant for us and died in our place. And God does not accept everyone because Jesus died. He accepts all who come in recognition of their sin and with a repentant heart. We must not trust in anything else (our works, penance, good deeds, etc.) but only in the completed work of the resurrected Jesus. God cannot even save us because he wants a relationship with us. God’s justice and righteousness demand payment. And Jesus is not the saviour because we invite him into our heart. He IS the saviour whether anyone accepts him or not. And because he IS the saviour he can be my saviour and he can be your saviour if you repent and transfer your trust to his sacrifice. Further, we do not come to God to receive his love. We come to receive his forgiveness. The benefit is that we discover that once forgiven we are forever loved by God.
Cliff,
Thank you so much for your comments. We created this blog as a way to show people that God desires and can have a friendship with us not because of anything that we do, but because of his love. We definitely don’t want to minimize Jesus or his sacrifice, it was just not the emphasis of this particular communication. We definitely recognize that friendship with God is totally dependent on accepting his sacrifice. We are sinners and someone did need to pay the penalty for our sin.
Thanks for your concern and for your thoughts–it is appreciated.
Your Friends at DRIME