3 min read

"As Close as Underwear"

When I was a boy, I saw John F. Kennedy walk down the stairs of Air Force One at Dulles International Airport. As a teenager, I saw Queen Elizabeth II reviewing the Scottish Regiments at the Horse Guards parade ground in London! In my 50's, I shook the hand of Earvin Magic Johnson. My picture was taken with the superstar! But, I didn't really know any of them. I certainly wasn't close to them! They wouldn't claim to be my friend. Someone supremely superior to all of Earth's royalty and celebrities is asking you to...

Become HIS personal friend!
Stay as close as underwear

I. BECOMING JESUS' FRIEND GIVES YOU ETERNAL LIFE

On the first day of school in my fourth grade, all 120 students lined up outside by grades before entering the building. I was new that year and didn't know a soul! Ronnie Bryan was new, too. "You're my only chance!" he said to me. And sure enough, that day we started a friendship that would become so close we were baptized together. The sad day his Daddy died, he asked for me and I went to comfort him friend-to-friend. We both needed that essential friendship!

Becoming friends with Jesus is essential, too. "This is the way to have eternal life—to know...Jesus Christ." John 17:3 (New Living Translation). Knowing Him makes all the difference! "By knowledge of Him shall My Righteous Servant justify many.” Isaiah 53:11 (Orthodox Jewish Bible) Accepting His "greatest love" on Calvary gets us started. But, we can become much closer!

II. STAYING CLOSE TO JESUS MAINTAINS YOUR ETERNAL LIFE

I relish the memory of 25 of my closest elementary school friends converging on Giffords in Silver Spring, Maryland just before we moved clear to Nebraska in the middle of my 8th grade. We laughed our way with flashing spoons through "Big Top" sundaes and banana splits until it was time to say, "Good Bye." Sadly, that was the last time I ever spoke to almost all of them even though they came to my farewell party because they were my closest friends, the ones who would miss me.

Jesus longs for friends who will stay close. He offers a deep friendship with us, everyday.

He wants to be as close as underwear! That's close! That's daily! That's not something you go without!

God instructed ancient Jeremiah to act out the kind of friendship that makes and keeps us friends of God.

"The Lord told me, 'Go and buy a pair of linen shorts'... So I bought a pair of shorts and put them on. Then the Lord said, 'Take off the shorts. Go to Parah and hide the shorts in a crack between some large rocks.' And that’s what I did. Some time later the Lord said, 'Go back and get the shorts.' I went back and dug the shorts out of their hiding place, but the cloth had rotted, and the shorts were ruined!.. 'These shorts were tight around your waist, and that’s how tightly I held onto the kingdoms of Israel and Judah...I wanted them to be my people... Instead, they do whatever they want and even worship other gods... I am finished with these people...good for nothing, just like this pair of shorts.'" Jeremiah 13:1-11 (Contemporary English Version)

Unless kept fresh, friendships deteriorate and get full of holes. Underwear that's full of holes isn't good for anything. Taking care of our friendship with Jesus gives us His strong warm hand to hold while walking through the really hard stuff thrown at us! Keeping our friendship with Him daily fresh also assures us that He'll take us up and away at the planet's final shutdown. But, Jesus can't hold up and rescue those who don't care about Him anymore.

"Give Him a call" right now! Jesus would love to hear from you! Before you know it, the two of you will be doing everything together--right on into eternity!!