by Larissa Westhuyzen
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” – John 15:15
I wonder if you’ve ever stopped to see what this verse is saying to us? Jesus called his followers his friends. By faith, we too are welcomed into that privilege. But here is a question, have you ever thought about what it actually means to enjoy friendship with Jesus in the everyday moments? Have you ever considered what it looks like to cultivate a life-long, deep, and vibrant friendship with him?
For most people, 2020 has been an incredibly difficult year. I have not been immune to the effects of COVID, but in my spiritual life, I have enjoyed a time of abundance. For me, this has been one of discovery of new joys in Jesus, as He has taken me by the hand and led me into a season of understanding more deeply how to enjoy his friendship. John Piper says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.” While I have wholeheartedly agreed with this insightful adjustment to the age-old catechism, I never really grasped what it actually means to enjoy God, except in solitary devotional time or in corporate worship services. I don’t think I had really considered this statement, so central to the Christian walk, with much depth or practical application beyond my explicit “God time”. But this year, Jesus has been teaching me new ways to enjoy him in ALL of life.
What if we were to experience all of life with Jesus in mind? The mundane, the highs, the lows. What if we were to see everything through the lens of Jesus, our good and faithful friend who longs to share each moment with us? He is, in fact, walking beside us regardless of our ascent to that fact. What if we were to see the beautiful things in this world, the things that strike our joy and resound through the core of our being, as they truly are, the wooing of our beloved? What if we were to grieve over all the brokenness in this world with the remembrance that Jesus is going to right all of those wrongs at His return? What if we remembered that Jesus is the antithesis of the brokenness that is piercing our heart at any given moment?
This is how Jesus has been teaching me to live this year. He says in John 15:4: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” I invite you to come along in this journey with me.
In the coming articles, I will share my journey of abiding in Jesus in the everyday this year. I do not write from a place of arrival but as one who has experienced deep joy in Christ this year, and prayerfully hope that by sharing my experience of Him, He may do a similar work in you.
Larissa Westhuyzen works part time as an Occupational Therapist in chronic pain management, and is the wife of Pastor Mike Westhuyzen of Enoggera Baptist Church. She has a passion for painting, worship and deep discipleship, and loves to spend her free time in the garden. She lives in Warner and is mum to two little girls - Lucy and Violet.
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