Jesus Wants To Play This Very Important Role In Your Life

Focusing On My Relationship With God

This year I went to the Steubenville Youth Conference with a mission to deepen my relationship with God, which had been shaky at best. I made my relationship with God the object of Saturday night’s adoration. I reflected on my past, where I am now, and my future with Him. Before I could even begin to imagine my future with God, I decided to ask Him who He is.

Who Is God To Me?

Although I knew who God is – all-powerful, an eternal father, the ruler of heaven – I didn’t know who He was to me, in my own relationship with Him. As I was praying, pleading God to reveal Himself to me in some small way, all I could think of was one line from a song we had been singing all weekend, “the one who reigns forever, he is a friend of mine.” No matter what I did, I could not push that quote out of my head. Later on in adoration, I realized why I kept coming back to that line: God wanted to be my friend. The one who reigns forever, the universal father, our Lord and Savior, wanted to be my friend. I was completely perplexed by this realization to the point I found it ridiculous. However, I knew that if God had put the idea in my head that it was meant to be.

Jesus Stands By My Side, As My Friend

Near the end of adoration, I was reminded of another quote, this one from the Bible, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15) With this message within me, I left the conference with a sense of renewal and a newfound closeness to Jesus, who I now believe stands by my side, as my friend. He wants to be your friend, too. How are you inviting Him in as one?