“So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle,” (Ex 33:11).
“His friend.” God considered Moses to be a close friend with whom He could talk face to face. This special relationship was partly due to the fact that Moses was sincerely devoted to God and to His cause, desires and purposes. Moses was one with the Spirit of God to such an extent that he shared the very feelings of God, suffering when He suffered and grieving when He grieved at sin (cf. 32:19). Every believer should, through prayer, seek to know the ways of God and to grow into such a profound union with Him and His purposes that he or she is indeed God’s friend.
Read John 15:13-17
“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you,” (Jn 15:15).
Because Jesus Christ is Lord and Master, he should call us servants; instead he calls us friends. How comforting and reassuring to be chosen as Christ’s friends. Because he is Lord and Master, we owe him our unqualified obedience, but most of all, Jesus asks us to obey because we love him.
“And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24: “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only,” (James 2:23-24).
2:21-24 James says that Abraham was “justified” (declared righteous) because of what he did. Paul says he was justified because he believed God (Romans 4:1-5). James and Paul are not contradicting, but complementing each other. Let’s not conclude that the truth is a blending of these two statements. We are not justified by what we do in any way. True faith always results in works, but the works do not justify us. Faith brings us salvation; active obedience demonstrates that our faith is genuine. We become true friends of God when our faith results in active obedience.
‘Tell God all that is in your heart as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys that He may sober with you; tell Him your longings that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes that He may help you overcome them; talk to Him of your temptations that He may shield you from them…”
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