Thursday, December 03, 2015

Everyone desires to have a good friend. As we saw in our last study, Jonathan, David’s friend, was the kind of friend everyone would like to have. In collecting information about his life from 1 Samuel 13 through 2 Samuel 1 we found some characteristics in his life that made a deep friendship with David possible. Correlating this information into an outline would look something like this: title - Jonathan, A True Friend. 1. He was courageous. 2. He was committed. 3. He was compassionate. 4. He was willing to accept the cost. You can see his courage when he and his armor bearer overcame 20 Philistine soldiers. He also defended and supported David before his father, King Saul, who was incensed over this, and even threatened his life. He was committed once he recognized the call of God on David’s life and made a covenant of fidelity with him. But at the same time he was a faithful son to Saul, even fighting alongside of him to the point of death. He was compassionate in that he protected David from Saul’s unjust intentions and attacks. And he was willing to accept the cost of the tension in walking this fine line of remaining a faithful son while affirming God’s call on David. He did this even though it meant losing his potential position of heir to the throne. Truly he was the kind of friend each of us needs as we face the challenges of daily life. Ask yourself, do I have that kind of friend? A bigger question might be, am I that kind of friend to someone?