First Meeting of Old Friends

Last Friday was a monumental day for me – after more than seven years of being pen pals, I met one of my dearest friends face to face.  Though I'd never before been able to share with her the simplest things like a hug or a meal, our relationship had grown deep and solid through written words and phone calls across three time zones.  There was no need to get acquainted once we were actually together – we're old friends.

It seems to me that our relationship with Jesus may be something like this.  We’ve read His Word.  We’ve seen His artistry.  We’ve heard His voice.  And someday soon, we’ll see His face.  And when we do, we’ll know without a doubt that this is the Person we’ve loved for all these years.  No awkward first meeting, no wondering how to respond.  It will be a reunion of old friends, picking up with a new dimension of a relationship that we’ve been building for so long already.  He’ll show us everything He’s told us about, and we’ll understand what we’ve been trying to picture.  We’ll meet more of His friends, ones we’ve heard of and ones we haven’t, and we’ll love them all.  Life with Him will seem perfectly normal, since we already know Him.

This is why we invest in our relationship with Jesus on this earth – the better we know Him here and now, the better foundation our face-to-face relationship will have.  It's hard to get excited about meeting someone unfamiliar, but think how thrilling it will be to finally meet Him if you already have a strong bond!  It takes work to build – no relationship comes without effort, especially one with someone you've never seen in person.  But the joy of meeting our Savior will be affected by the depth of the friendship we've built before that moment comes.  Will you know Him as a mere acquaintance, or will He already be your best Friend?

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him . . .

1 Peter 1:8