Have you ever experienced the awkward situation when someone else thinks that he is your best friend, when in reality you feel like you barely know him? Sometimes asymmetrical relationships form in which one party greatly overestimates the closeness of the relationship. Occasionally, someone will do this in a way that is very inviting and makes it really easy to get to know the other person quickly and build a new friendship, but other times this mismatch in assessment of the relationship tees you up for some awkward moments.

Tragically, many people wrongly assess their relationship with Jesus, never stopping to listen to what he actually said about following him or to discern if they actually have a relationship with Jesus. Others seem to act on the assumption that Jesus will be there for them when they need him, and that the rest of the time he kindly steps out of the way so as not to interfere with their lifestyle and choices. But blindly presuming that we have a relationship with Jesus and treating Jesus as if he is a genie in a bottle is a spiritually fatal mistake. If you have gone through life assuming that you are right with Jesus simply because you were born into a Christian home or because you go to church sometimes and haven’t committed “really bad” sins, then I implore you to listen to Jesus in order to find out what he says about how to be right with him. If God is convicting you that you have treated your relationship with the Lord as something that should benefit your life and cost you nothing, then I implore you to listen to Jesus to find out what he expects us to give up for him. 

Jesus said, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:19–21, emphasis added). In another place, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21, emphasis added). Jesus’s haunting warning reminds us that there will be many people who thought that they were best friends with Jesus, when in reality they were strangers to him because they had never listened to his word and pursued God’s will in life. Let these words of Jesus recalibrate your understanding of what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. The only way to have a relationship with Jesus is not on our terms, but on his terms: hear the word of God and do the will of God. Don’t wait until judgement day to find out if you have a relationship with Jesus. Find out today what Jesus says about following him so that you can have a genuine relationship with him and be filled with hope!