Last summer, our kids hosted a good-bye reception for us before we left Colorado for North Carolina. Spending more than seven years in the Rocky Mountain state, we had developed many good friendships. 

I was feeling down with the thought of celebrating our departure. I just wanted to slip away rather than go through the pain of saying good-bye to many people we had done life with all those years. 

It was also the last day with my brother and his family, who lived just an hour away. We’d be giving up family get-togethers with them. Then there was our son and family, who hosted the open house. We had lived in the same town for three years, developing a strong bond.

Saying good-bye isn’t easy. 

If you’ve moved away at some point, you know what I mean. I was sad to leave family and friends.

Then I remembered Jesus. He’s a great friend. He would be going to North Carolina with us, just as he had done in our move from California to Colorado several years earlier.

Jesus told his followers, ^“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends.” (John 15:15 ESV)

When I think of Jesus as my friend, a warmth soothes my soul. Maybe it’s because I picture this King of Kings and Lord of Lords stepping down off his throne and sitting beside me. Friends sit next to each other or across from each other and this is what Jesus does with us.

The great hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, goes through my mind:

“What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit;
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer!”

Jesus is a friend who has done much more for you than any other friend you have ever had. He has borne your sins, grief, anxiety, pain — everything that weighs on your heart! 

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13 ESV)

Jesus is a friend who has given his life for you. He continues to be there to bond with you as you do life together. He’ll celebrate your victories and put his arm around you in your losses. 

I’m not sure if you’re going through separation, loneliness, betrayal, grief, anxiety, suffering or some other pain right now. I do know that Jesus is your friend. He sits beside you. He is your faithful friend who gave his life for you and continues to give and give and give.

If you feel like you need a friend these days, you’ve got one. Jesus. Thank him for his friendship.

(From my new devotional, Your Life With God: 30 Days With Jesus. Available on Amazon.