What special privilege is associated with being a “friend of God?” Elaborate on what it means to you to be a friend of God. BIB547-1-01-7.

The special privilege of being a “friend of God” is that someday I will be allowed to spend eternity in His Holy presence.
Being a friend of God means walking with God; not walking ahead of God and not walking behind God. If I try to walk ahead of God I am basically trying to do it my way. If I walk behind God I lose that connection with him and can stumble. As friends we should spend quiet time together, “Selah Moments.” I must be worthy of God, as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." And as Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
To be a friend of God also means to daily study his Word; to become knowledgeable about His many prophecies. We are in the end days and it is incumbent upon us as followers of Jesus to be watchmen on the wall. Time is short and we have the great commission to bring more people into the kingdom. After all, if we love being a friend of God, should not we share the knowledge of this wonderful relationship with other people?
Being a friend of God to me would also requires me to be His follower. This would mean being Jesus-absorbed rather than self-absorbed. Jesus said to his disciples, “Come” and they came. Later Jesus said “go” and they went out into the world and made disciples. He chose rather common and mostly uneducated men, men who saw something so powerful and righteous that they followed in his footsteps. A Jewish Rabbi with Jewish disciples. Of his 11 original and loyal disciples, only John was not martyred. However, John survived torture and long-term imprisonment.
Before Jesus stepped out of eternity for His earthly walk there were the Old Testament disciples/prophets such as Elijah and Elisha. Elijah called on God in his challenge to the prophets of Baal and later had to run for his life. Elisha answered the call to serve by cutting ties to his possessions; no questions asked just complete obedience to the call.
James and Jude, the half-brothers of Jesus did not believe Jesus was who He said He was until after the Resurrection. Both became church leaders and authored books of the Bible. They do not mention that they are Jesus' brothers. Rather, they humbly describe themselves as His servants. Josephus reports that priestly authorities executed James around the year AD 66.
Being a friend of God does not preclude one from worshiping his Holiness. God is holy, holy, holy!