DECEMBER 18, 2014
My
Friends And I
Read: 1
Samuel 18:1-4; 23:15-18
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his
own soul. —1
Samuel 18:3
John Chrysostom
(347–407), archbishop of Constantinople, said this about friendship: “Such is
friendship, that through it we love places and seasons; for as . . . flowers
drop their sweet leaves on the ground around them, so friends impart favor even
to the places where they dwell.”
Jonathan and David
illustrate the sweetness of a true friendship. The Bible records an intimate
and immediate bond between them (1 Sam. 18:1). They kept their friendship alive
by demonstrating their loyalty to each other (18:3; 20:16, 42; 23:18), as well
as nurturing it by expressions of concern. Jonathan gave gifts to David (18:4)
and watched out for him through many difficulties (19:1-2; 20:12-13).
In 1 Samuel 23:16, we
see the highest moment of their friendship. When David was a fugitive on the
run from Jonathan’s father, “Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in
the woods and strengthened his hand in God.” Friends help you find strength in
God during the low points of life.
In a world where most
relationships are about what we can get, let us be the type of friends who
focus on what we can give. Jesus, our perfect Friend, demonstrated for us that
“greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his
friends” (John 15:13).
Thank You, Lord, for the friends You’ve given
me to
love me in spite of my failures and
weaknesses. Let
me treat them as You treated Your friends.
Bind us
together in You and enable us to help one
another.
The
glory of life is to love, not to be loved; to give, not to get; to serve, not
to be served.
Insight
The deep friendship
between David and Jonathan withstood the test of time and circumstances,
evidenced when Jonathan went against his father, King Saul (1 Sam. 20),
endangering his own life in order to save David (v.33). Although Jonathan was
the crown prince, he encouraged David by assuring his safety and affirming that
he would be the next king (23:17). After Jonathan died in battle (31:1-6),
David honored him with the “Song of the Bow,” which was to be remembered by the
people of Judah (2 Sam. 1:18-27).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012