Effective Friendship
Opening Prayer
Gracious Father, keep me alert as I read and pray. Enlighten my mind with Your truth and fill my heart with Your love.
Read 1 Samuel 20:1-17
[1]
Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“Christian friends help us face into the truth of who we are in Christ. They help us face down the lies that shape us, and they orient us in the direction of God’s patient love” (Adele Ahlberg Calhoun). We all need friends like that.
Think Further
The friendship between Jonathan and David is legendary and was based on their shared commitment to God as well as mutual interests. David’s first recorded words for some time reveal a young lad who is genuinely bewildered by what is happening (1); his life has changed dramatically! Jonathan by this stage is the one stable factor in David’s life. They have already made a covenant together–a pledge of mutual allegiance and dependable support in the face of all odds (18:1-4), and they re-commit themselves to each other now (14-17). They will do so again, later, before God (23:18).
Their plans now include a promise by David to be faithful to Jonathan and his descendants, as well as a realistic appraisal by Jonathan of the state of his father’s mind, with the promise to aid David’s escape if necessary. Continued mutual trust and transparent personal integrity were vital to their relationship and to David’s safety. David was the ancestor not only of a line of kings, but of Jesus himself (Matt. 1:1-17). Had he been killed at this point, God’s purposes would have been severely compromised. Thus Jonathan played a significant role in God’s purposes for Israel and for the world.
The power of friendship for encouraging, protecting and sustaining another person should never be underestimated. Jonathan himself never knew how important his role was; he died in battle before David became king (31:1,2). Are we prepared to give friendship generously, even when we do not know what the outcome may be? Or are we prepared to give of ourselves in caring ministry, even though we may not live to see the fruit of it?
Apply
Jesus told his disciples that he counted them as his friends (John 15:15). What do you think that being a friend of Jesus really means?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to be the person that my friends need me to be, to free them up to become who You want them to be.
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