What does it mean to be a true friend to Jesus? This is number 4 of a series of five propositions I wrote for myself to answer that.
It means to be useful to him by being full of gratitude and prayers for each person I’m around and everyone who comes to my attention.
Notice that no one is to be excluded from our thank you list, so to speak. We are commanded to give thanks for everyone, irrespective of who they are or what they do. Why is that? I’m persuaded that it is because — as we read in Colossians 1:16 — Jesus, along with everything else, created each person for himself. That suggests to me that since he created each person unique, each one of us stands to be something to him that no one else can be. But it also suggests that on account of that unique relationship, each person stands to reveal something of Jesus to all creation that can be found no where else. Consequently, that is why we give thanks for them. We are in line to be uniquely blessed through every man, woman, and child the more they become who Jesus created them to be.
And notice that “pray continually” means that every moment of time in our lives needs to become a moment of prayer. That is how intimate our friendship with Jesus is intended to become.
