Friendship Appointments and Time with Friends

How do we make time for friends when we barely have time for ourselves?

My friend and I decided to make a friendship appointment each month for lunch. Otherwise, we’ll miss out on time together. Both of us have hectic, full schedules creating plenty of excuses to keep our lives too busy for time with friends. So now we have a standing appointment to keep us connected and sane.

Our friendship matters–and we are determined to carve out time each month to demonstrate our commitment to each other as friends.

Are you prepared for friendship appointments to share your faith?

and the Scripture was fulfilled that says,”Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”–and he was called a friend of God.  James 2:23

I’m overwhelmed by the reality that I am a friend of God.

Yet, how often do I pencil God onto my calendar that’s already crammed with countless events?

How often do I neglect investing time in our relationship by choosing  to do other things or making excuses to keep my life too busy to connect?

Is it possible to share your faith with others without sharing first with God?

As with any relationship, our friendship with our Creator requires effort and time. 

[Tweet “To be called God’s friend, we must first be a friend of God.”]

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11:8

I can get so wrapped up in the how of sharing your faith that I leave out the very One who is the Author and Finisher of that very faith.

To share your faith begins and ends within God.

Like Abraham we must:

1. Trust

2. Surrender

3. Obey

Uncertain where he was going, Abraham trusted God, surrendered to God’s authority, and followed in obedience toward His plan. In return, Abraham is remembered as God’s friend.

This past weekend, I flipped another month on the calendar and smiled at the circled date–my standing friendship appointment. My friend’s effort to set aside time just for me reminds me that I’m accepted, valued, and loved.

Will we demonstrate that same love toward our most treasured friendship? Will each of us, like Abraham, be remembered as God’s friend?

This week, make an appointment with a friend to share your faith. But first, spend time with God–the One who loves and accepts you right now-just as you are.