A FRIEND OR A USER?

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Hello,

Howdy, do? Hope you still remember to inhale and exhale? 😊 

Today's post would require a moment of quiet introspection.

I have a story but first a question: Are you a true friend of God or a user?


I used to have this little girl who loved to be around me, at least that's what I thought because the times she would come to my house, it seemed like she wanted to be with me and to be honest I felt important. I felt like I was special to her, for a while anyway, until I realized it wasn't me she liked, it's not that she disliked me, but she liked what she could get from me more. 

Ok let me explain better, at the time, she was quite young so she had no smartphone at her disposal because her parents hadn't bought her one yet, she was still relatively young so whenever she would come to the house, she would run to me, shouting my name, making my insides as a human being feel so important, she would play with me for a bit and then she would ask for my phone and I'll give it to her, she'd play with it until it was almost time to leave. 

It was not long before what she was doing became clear to me though. On the days when she would come over and my phone battery was low and I wouldn't be able to give her my phone, I watched the difference in her disposition and I realized that "Oh, I'm not that important to Sewa, I just have what she wants." As a human, she would do what she thought she had to do even if it was to suck up to me so that she'd get what she wanted. 

It's not surprising that Sewa behaved that way. I probably did the same thing when I was young and who knows maybe when I was older too. Generally, we humans tend to suck up to people so that we can get what we want from them and I feel like many of us would have stories similar to this.


It's easy to not get offended when a child does this to us because they are children so we can just humour them and give them what they want but it could hurt badly to discover that someone who you thought was your friend was only there because of what they could get from you. 

We call people like that 'users', right? Well, How many times have you used God too? If I may ask...

How many times do you go to God because of what you need from him? You pray so hard, not because you just want to talk to Him and hear His voice, but because you think He can provide you with the thing you need at the moment. And you know what? He can provide you with what you need and He probably will. Then you will take what He gives you and go, then you will pull up to His house another time, not because you just want to thank Him or sit with him this time, but because you hope to get even more. 

People who see you pull up to His house every week, those who see you pray so hard but who don't know the content of your prayers. They will believe that you love God and that you're His friend. But I'm here to tell you that God is not deceived. Look at this👇🏿👇🏿

Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles. Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put his mark of approval on him.”

John 6:26‭-‬27 GNT

What are the things you spend time in prayer about? Do you know that the contents of your prayers expose you? Do you want bread, or do you want God? Are you a user, or a true friend of God? 

True friends will eventually enjoy more, but users don't realize this. 

Many people want to be God's friends, but constant "I need this, I need that" doesn't paint a good picture of the friendship you share.

This is a call for us to review our prayers and recognize if we've been using God or we've been loving Him.

A true friend of God will spend time in His word, God's word exposes His heart. Knowing God's heart enables us to pray right. 


Prayer: Lord Jesus, all my 'using you' days are over, I want to be a true friend. Please, help me so that my days will be for knowing you.


Rooting for you always,

Grace Alagbe, for the Royal Rubies.

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