There was a large thump this morning then the postman put the mail through the letterbox.

A couple of new books had arrived… ‘Water into Wine’ by Stephen Verney (more of which later), and ‘Surprised by the Voice of God’ by Jack Deere.

I had come across the Jack Deere book following up on a chance comment about it in conversation with a friend… and dipped into it quickly this morning, only to find something excellent to share with you almost straight away…

“Most Christians say that they want to be friends with Jesus.  They want to hear and recognise  his voice. But what I actually find ids that most of us are divided… We don’t want only Jesus… We want Jesus and something else.

We want Jesus and a good marriage… We want Jesus and obedient children… We want Jesus and a nice home…  Jesus and a successful career… Jesus and good friends.

None of these desires is wrong. It’s just that it becomes very easy to see Jesus as the means of obtaining things… It is very easy to desire Jesus as the means to another end, when he himself is the end of all things.

This is what hinders friendship with God, and whatever hinders friendship with God, hinders our ability to hear and to recognise God’s voice.

Those who invest would love to know what the stock market is going to do next year… Those who live in an earthquake zone then the next big quake will be…

And sometimes God does reveal those things…. BUT…

The greatest revelation that God has to give… is the revelation of his Son…

Jesus promises his friends not simply a revelation of truth, or the truths of the Bible.

What he promises is a revelation of himself – the type of revelation shared between the closest of friends, or the most intimate of lovers…

Who of us wouldn’t want a relationship like that? and a Revelation like that?”

To grow in intimacy and friendship with Jesus we need to surrender our agendas… not to see Jesus as a means to another end… to see, to invest in that relationship – simply because He is waiting for us.  To see a full revelation of the person of Jesus…