Christmas is such a wonderful time for getting together with friends. You eat, give gifts, share stories, laugh, cry, and have a wonderful time together. Have you ever thought of Christ as your friend and celebrated His birthday just as if He were present with you and all of your friends here on earth? The fact is, He is with you during every moment of celebration. The problem is, we don't recognize His presence and celebrate with Him. To many of us, He only exists in our liturgy or our practice of religion. Dwight L. Moody once said, "A rule I have had for years is: to treat the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal friend. His is not a creed, a mere doctrine, but it is He Himself we have."
Jack Zavada put it this way: "When Jesus came into the world in human form, he changed our relationship with God forever. He made it possible for us to become sons and daughters in God's family, co-heirs with Him to the gift of eternal life with the Father. But He gave us another Christmas gift few of us ever open: His frneidship. He experienced firsthand the loneliness of being human, and He saw that as much as we need a savior, we also need a friend."
Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15 NIV)
Isn't it great to know that Jesus wants to be your friend? What better friend could you have? Unlike many of those we call friends, He is steadfastly loyal, quick to forgive every fault, a strong support, an encourager, a great listener, and so many other things that I couldn't even begin to describe how great of a friend He is. He wants nothing but the very best for you and He never gets jealous or upset whenever you excel... So this Christmas, see Him for more than "the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." See Him as your friend. Make the choice to enter into a deeper friendship with Christ during this Christmas season. When you give Him your heart and trust Him to be your friend, you'll find that your life will never again be the same... "What a friend we have in Jesus!" His friendship is such a great gift He freely gives to all who will receive.
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