Jesus said, “you are my friends if you do what I command.”
What makes obedience so central to this friendship? Why is his every command so precious and indispensable? Because whether directly or indirectly our obedience has to do with participating in his loving work in people’s hearts.
Hence the extent of our obedience also reveals the extent of our awareness of another person’s value to Christ. The more we are aware of another person’s value to God, then, fearing God, the more we want to make sure we treat them as best we can.
And to that end we can do no better than to act on precisely what Jesus calls us to do in working with him as he draws them into their own friendship with himself.
