THE WORLD SAYS... If there is a God, he seems to be very impersonal and doesn’t really know or care about you. Otherwise, more things would go your way, you wouldn’t live in fear, and you certainly wouldn’t ever wonder or question if he really existed. So often, God is referred to in that impersonal way, like when people speak about God as “the big guy,” “the man upstairs,” or even “mother nature.” Many people in the world say they believe in God, but he goes by many different names and is described very differently. THE BIBLE SAYS... Jesus is MY FRIEND. One of the comforting descriptions the Bible gives about God, Jesus Christ, is just how personal He is and just how well He knows each one of us. The Bible says that He knows more about us than we know about ourselves! He even knows how many hairs are on my head (Matthew 10:30). Also, unlike many friends I’ve had, Jesus is a Friend like no other because He is always the same. The Bible says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). That is so important because He still loves me even though I am a sinner. Jesus spoke about how He was mocked for coming to call sinners to repentance. He said,"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' (Matthew 11:19) God’s Word teaches us what kind of friend we have in Jesus, and that faith in Him alone is what gives us eternal life. James chapter 2 speaks of trusting in Jesus, our faithful friend, and in verse 23 uses the example of Abraham saying, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God.” Jesus spoke to His friends saying, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:12-15). Neal RadichelPastor, Luther MemorialFond Du Lac, WI "But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." -John 20:31 (NAS)