And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was []accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. - James 2:23 (NKJV)

I think the highest calling with regard to relating is being called a friend. Abraham was a friend of God. In true friendships, there's honesty and transparency. God always talked to Abraham about stuff. He didn't do anything without telling Abraham. God respected Abraham so much that He needed to talk to him before making the final decision. How could Almighty God want to ask His son for something? God is the most humble person I know. That He should even want to relate with us is a mystery. Some of us cannot handle power. The minute we have it, we give up on friendships. We become so occupied, all in the name of reigning. But God! God of the universe. He could find time to speak to Abraham about matters of the heart, as great as He is. 

Conversations with the Lord 

 And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." - Genesis 18:17-19 (NKJV)

This particular chapter in the book of Genesis is weird. Its starts off in the heat of day. God visits Abraham and soon after three other men visited. Abraham was so well acquainted with God that God would visit and just chill with Him. Abraham chilled with God. Man, that's awesome! They were boys. Our heavenly Father chilled with the father of all nations. What an interaction! 

I want you to notice something about the scriptures above. God is about to do something and before He does it, there's something fundamental that God says. The bible says, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?" Can you have a friend you don't like spending time with ?  Is it possible to have a friend who you don't talk to? Real friendship requires having real conversations. God could not Hide a single thing from Abraham. 

God knew Abraham

The Hebrew word used for Knowing somebody is yada. It's pronounced yaw-dah'. The word has a lot of meanings. I will only write down a few that I really loved. It means: well acquainted with, familiar friend, to acknowledge and to be aware of. 

Replacing Yada  with any one of the words the bible would read: I have acknowledged him. I am familiar with Abraham. I am well acquainted with Abraham. I am aware of Abraham. Now, I did not change the meaning of the word of God. The Old testament was mainly written in Hebrew and a bit in a language called Aramaic. To have a fuller understanding of what you are studying, it's always helpful to read it from the original language. It's just like speaking two languages. If you can speak French, you'd know that certain words however translated would lack a certain weight when translated to English. Recently a friend of mine explained to me how some words sound fancy in French but are so common when translated to English. 

I want you to carefully study the portion of Scriptures I have shared. God knew Abraham. Because of the relationship that He had with Abraham, He couldn't do just anything without revealing it to his friend. Does God know you? It's more important to be noticed by God than to be noticed by a very tall brother. You know, the brothers with fancy accents, and a  well built body. Brothers that are 'hot.' There's nothing wrong with being handsome. I know two guys in the bible who were really handsome, but they decided to focus on God. You wanna check em out? 

Joe and Dave

 So Potiphar told Joseph to take care of everything that belonged to him. Potiphar did not worry about anything in his house. The only thing that he thought about was the food that he ate. Joseph was a strong and handsome man. - Genesis 39:6 (EASY)

I really don't see the point of adding the last sentence. What's Joseph's handsomeness got to do with him handling his business? But when you read verse 7. It starts to make sense. 

After some time had passed, Potiphar's wife saw that Joseph was handsome. She said, 'Come to bed with me! - Genesis 39:7 (EASY)

Just a verse later. Somebody noticed. Oh, she noticed! She noticed the strong form of Joseph's appearance. Other versions say, 'Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.' So we know why this sister was here. It wasn't prayer. It wasn't bible study. She came to look. She stared. I'm laughing as I write. But it is true. Potiphar noticed that Joseph had the presence of God, but his wife saw beauty. Here's another guy:  

 So Jesse asked them to fetch him and Jesse took him to Samuel. This young man was handsome and strong and he had beautiful eyes. The Lord said to Samuel, 'I have chosen this man. Go and anoint him.' - 1 Samuel 16:12 (EASY) 

The bible had a bunch of handsome men. David was strong. Handsome. And he had beautiful eyes. Sisters! Calm down! David was a married man. He had wives. But look at that! The bible adds physical appearance to describe the guy and yet the condition of his heart is what places him a cut above the rest. Did you know that David came from a line of handsome brothers? Man, you'd think it's the Jonas brothers. Or maybe the Hemsworths? Nah? Anyway! You get the point! 

Much as these brothers had awesome appearances. We remember them for something totally different. Joseph was the guy who delivered the world from famine. David is the warrior that never loses any battles for His Lord! In the bible, Joseph always had the presence of God. In prison. In Potiphar's house. He never left the presence of God. 

David is a man after God's own heart. If this is not friendship? Then I don't know what friendship is! Get to know God. Know Him. Become well acquainted with God. That is the one relationship you want to develop before graduating from single hood to being partnered. Become God's friend today and enjoy the privilege of having Him visit you. 

Note: Thank you so much readers! You guys are so fun! God bless you for reading! I continue to write about friendship in the next chapter. It's going to be exciting! I cannot wait. The title of the next chapter is: Will you go out with me? I'll catch you there. Stay tuned! And God bless! Shalom.