Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. John 15:13-15

This one is simple.  God has chosen you and me to be his friend.  But it is not a choice without conditions.  Now, before you get mad at Jesus for creating a conditional friendship, consider this, do you have standards for your associations?  Are there guidelines that are important for the growth and on-going joy of your relationships?  Are there boundaries that you think are positive in healthy friendships?  I am imagining the answer to these questions is (mostly) yes.  Jesus is no different. He has chosen us to be His friends and we must choose whether we will follow His ethic of love (the great commandment) and accept the challenge to go out and share the story (the great commission)?  May we, in all things, choose well.  Have a great weekend.