S72P9 – A friend of God: appreciative of the change
Rom. 5:9-10
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
He was a grown man, and an old one at that, so his response to being in that place seemed unusual. Typically, we would expect children to become really excited for the carnival that has come into town for the holiday weekend. We normally would not expect an adult to respond with that kind of fascination. It was as if he never had been on a ferris wheel or had tasted a candy apple. Those who did not know him might have thought perhaps he was from a far-away place where these simple things did not exist. The truth was that the rides, lights and food were not the source of his excitement. This man had spent his life in a place where liberty was not his, and it was his new freedom which had stirred him that night and every night thereafter.
We all have heard that we do not know what we have until it is gone. When it comes to friendship with God, we do not know what we do not have until we obtain it. We start out as his enemies, and no one is entitled to become God’s friend. Knowing that we begin life already lost, dead and enslaved to sin, it should give us immeasurable appreciation for the friendship that God makes available to us. Our relationship with him never should be taken for granted because it is indeed a miracle. Our eyes should be wide with amazement at the thought of God calling us his friends. We never should get used to that. Our thankfulness for God’s friendship should grow and grow as we experience daily the freedom He gives us.
Sometimes people go from being very poor to being very rich, and they can forget over time what it was like to have nothing. They grow accustomed to their privilege. Things which other people never could dream of having become commonplace to them, and they fail to have a real appreciation for their resources. We have gone from having nothing to having everything through our friendship with God. The hope is that we never would grow so accustomed to his goodness and grace that we fail to appreciate how valuable this friendship is. Father, thank You for the riches of freedom and liberty we gain through friendship with You, and teach us to appreciate them more and more daily.