Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN
seeketh of God any thing besides God, doth not love God
purely, If a wife loveth her husband because he is rich,
she is not pure, for she loveth not her husband, but the
gold of her husband.” “Who seeks from God any other
reward but God, and for it would serve God, esteems what
he wishes to receive, inbre than Him from whom he would
receive it” (See Everyman’s Library, The Confessiom, p.
52, n.). That is to say, the noblest motivation to the Spiritual
Life is neither the fear of punishment nor the hope
of reward, but love for God simply because He is God
(cf. John 3:16, 1 John 4:7-21).
The title Frieiid of God undoubtedly comes from the
passages cited above from Isaiah and Second Chronicles.
It is given to Abraham also by Clement of Rome (Ad Cor.
chs. 10, 17). It was Abraham’s special privilege to be
known by this title among the Jews, and to our own day
he is known also among the Arabs as El Khalil, equivalent
to “the Friend.” We recall here what God had to say in
praise of His “servant Job” (Job 1-8), and when His praise
was challenged by the Adversary (1 Pet. 5 : 8), God accepted
the challenge and flroz~d Job’s uprightness by his stedfastness
under the pressure of the most terrible calamities. We
may rest assured that when God speaks approvingly of one
of His great servants, He speaks the truth as always. So
it was in Abraham’s case: when God called Abraham His
Friend, we may sure that the patriarch was His Friend
with all that this term means to God Himself.
A man may have all the silver and gold in the world,
but if he has not friends, he is poor. He may operate
factories and mills, live in mansions of brick or stone; he
may possess acres of real estate, vast rolling plains and
valleys; he may have oil wells scattered about, everywhere;
indeed he may be a billionaire, but if he has not friends,
he is nothing. The most priceless possession in this world
is a true friend. It is a wonderful thing to have in one’s
heart true friendship for others. It is a sanctifying senti-
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