are YOU a friend to Jesus?

"Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus!"
Isn't that the truth?
Yet is that what Jesus would say about YOU?

A friend. Someone who would listen to you, would share with you their heart's desires....someone that you would die for!
Jesus died for you....would you also die...for Him?

Many of you are jumping up and down like a schoolchild. "Oh! Pick me! I would, Jesus, I would!"
So if you saw a train headed straight for Him, you would step in front of it, correct?

 John 15:13 says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

This applies to complete strangers as well...

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40

So...would you take that leap for someone you don't know at all?

....if you see someone who needs you and you do anything you can to provide for them, you have just done it for Jesus. This can be feeding the hungry, minstering to someone who is sick...or in  a nursing home...or in a jail....someone who is locked into the chains of alcoholism or addiction....anyone who is in need. Do you recognize Jesus in any of these scenarios? I mean, you WOULD help out your best friend from college, right? To help out a stranger is worth even more than helping out someone you do know.

"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" 1 John 3:17.

To be blunt, Peter also told Jesus that he would stick by Him, he would die for Him if necessary. Jesus, in all of His compassion, recognized that when put to the test, many people could NOT do that very thing. To stand up for what you believe in rather than turn tail and run takes real courage and faith....to take that fall, not knowing what the future holds, can be a scary thing indeed. Look at how the Christians all throughout history have been persecuted...and yet...they are still being persecuted. What would YOU do if they came for you...would you accept your fate....or would you deny Jesus also to save your own life? In the case of Peter, Jesus came back after His resurrection and forgave him...He knew that He needed Peter to begin the ministry Jesus had started...he would be a valuable witness and thus...gave Peter that second chance--one that Peter lived up to for many years!

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?…Matthew 16:24-26

This is so important that ALL FOUR Gospels record this conversation...all FOUR! If you think you'll save your life now by denying Christ...by all means, do so...but in the end you will lose it forever. To say, "Yes! I DO know Him and Love Him!" and to prove it....that takes courage and faith...and you will indeed be rewarded....Jesus has a special place saved for you...as a true friend would!

So again I say, "oh! what a friend we have in Jesus!"...after all, He DID die for you...so....what kind of a friend are you...to Him?