Being Jesus' friend

John 15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

I was reading Jack Deere's book, "Surprised by the Voice of God," and a chapter on being Jesus' friend intrigued me.

What is a true friend? A true friend is one who delights in you, alone; who enjoys your company; whom you can call anytime; whom, you can go to their house & it's okay to help yourself to what's in their fridge -- and they can do the same at your house. And who, when she rings up, just wants to catch up -- and not because she wants to ask you a favour.

True friendship, he says, is one where the motive to use the other is purged. We are friends, not because of what we can get from one another, or what we fear will happen if we don't give in to the other -- but we are friends because we just enjoy one another, as is.

Are we truly Jesus' friend? Do we go to him only if we have a need? Otherwise, we ignore him? Or, do we obey out of fear of what will happen if we don't?

Singaporeans, a person from the evangelism team said, tend to bring the "pai-sun" mentality to Christianity. We want something in return for our worship. We want Jesus and the good marks. We want Jesus and the career. We want Jesus and the dream spouse.

Guess what? He tests us by NOT giving us what we want. And in doing so, He exposes the intent of our hearts.

Are we content to abide in Him, even if we don't get anything from Him?