2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Today, I am led to discuss an issue that is very important to me and very dear to my heart-friendship. Compared to Paul or Christ, my life has been a walk in the park. However, compared to a lot of my contemporaries, it is been a challenge. Circumstances beyond my control led to many painful experiences as a child, to a long, bad first marriage, to membership in a cult, and a lot of other problems which didn’t come to an end until God really brought me to real faith. I think of myself as having made a passage from mere existence to life from the time that I became aware that Jesus Christ was my personal Savior. I truly believe that Christ brought my husband, Peter, into my life and that He, through the Holy Spirit, gave me an enormous hunger for His word. That Peter and I will celebrate our 25th anniversary next January is something I see as a gift from God. With perfect 20/20 hindsight, I can see that God was bringing me though all these experiences in preparation for me to serve Him full-time, as I do now. I was a Jew who became jealous of all the blessings my friends with faith in Christ had and wanted them for herself [RO 11: 11-12]. One of those blessings was the kind of friendships, beginning with Peter’s, that I now have in my life. Because I am spiritually and geographically separated from my family (not estranged from them), the friendships that are in my life are particularly precious to me. Truthfully, I could not have endured the challenges of my life without the faith God has given me or my dear friends. God blessed Peter and I profoundly when He brought us into the congregation which has become our extended “family.”
In a God-driven quest to learn more about covenants, I was brought to “The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament,” edited by R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer,Jr., and Bruce Waltke. A subject taken up in this book is the covenant of friendship between David and Saul’s son, Jonathan. We have already discussed it in a previous devotion in this series, but it deserves more of our attention because of the valuable lessons from it for us and God’s part in it. You will remember that David was brought before Saul after killing Goliath and met Saul’s son, Jonathan, at this time [1 SAM 17: 57-18: 2]. Because Saul kept David with him from that time on, Jonathan was put by God in a position to become acquainted with David and come to love him as a dear friend. 1 SAM 8: 3-4, “Jonathan swore eternal friendship with David because of his deep affection for him. He took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, together with his sword, bow, and belt.” While that citation said nothing about God, we can see God’s hand in this remarkable dipleuric covenant (one between equals) in Jonathan’s decision to deceive his own father in a successful effort to save David’s life [1 SAM 20: 6-8]. It is also significant that in 1 SAM 18: 5, we learn, “David was successful in all the missions on which Saul sent him, and so Saul made him and officer in his army…” For an ordinary-sized man whose main interest up to then was to play his harp, this is a most extraordinary circumstance and one which reveals God’s hand in David’s life. The same could be said for his remarkable victory over the giant, Goliath.
JN 13: 35 gives us Christ’s words revealing the importance of friendships in our lives. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” I have seen first-hand the power of God in bringing people who were enemies, but were obedient to God, to love one another. Christ also told us to love our enemies, an act that focuses on God’s greater purposes and de-emphasizes human agendas. MT 5: 44-45a, “But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father in heaven.” Frederick Spanheim shared some real wisdom repeating this concept when he said, “They are the true disciples of Christ, not who know most, but who love most.” Sometimes, we fall into friendships when we least expect it. I have one very dear friend who I met while we were running material off in the copy room off of our church office. Neither of us knew the other before that, but a wonderful and I believe, God-led, friendship has ensued. We are called upon to make ourselves open to such things happening in our lives. This can’t happen if we don’t place trust in God’s direction.
Sometimes, reconciliation must occur before God’s will can be carried out between two or more people. We are reminded of that in our own relationship with God in RO 5: 10-11, “We were God’s enemies, but He made us His friends through the death of His Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has now made us God’s friends.” Wherever two or more people are involved in a close friendship, there is the potential for disagreements to occur. They are often the work of the adversary. What we must remember, is that as believers, we have been equipped to be victorious over the devil by invoking the tools God has given us to do spiritual warfare [EPH 6: 10-18]. When we keep God’s big picture in mind [the unification and edification of the Body of Christ], we will take the time to work out our differences with others in a calm, mutually respectful way. That demonstrates our willingness to put human agendas aside in favor of God’s and shows that being His disciples matters more to us.
One last word about David and Jonathan. While Jonathan didn’t physically live long due to his circumstances, he did hold true to his part of his covenant with David for the rest of his life. The last time they were together is seen in 1 SAM 23: 18, “The two of them made a sacred promise of friendship to each other. David stayed at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.” In my heart, I believe that these two men are esteemed by God for their faithfulness to Him and to each other. I also believe that their friendship continues in heaven. What an example for us in establishing and maintaining our own friendships during our time on earth! Imagine the thought of being together for eternity in joy and close fellowship with God and each other in heaven, because of how we acted with love during our physical lifetimes!
PRAYER: O Lord, when we read about the covenant of friendship that existed between David and Jonathan, we are reminded of Your presence in our lives and involvement in the details of them. Their covenant brought them comfort, protection, and joy. That is what You allow us to have when we establish friendships between ourselves and other believers. Their circumstances weren’t always easy, Dear Lord. That is particularly true when Jonathan was called upon to betray his own father in order to protect David’s life. Both of these men demonstrate to us why it is crucial to keep our end of any godly covenant into which we enter and to place Your agenda above our human ones. We can witness first-hand to the joy that friendships with others who share our faith bring into our lives. When marriages are established in which You are a part between people who are already each other’s best friend, they last and bring enormous blessings into the lives of these partners. When friendships are established in the manner that Jonathan and David’s was, our lives are made better. Your purposes are also served. You are freed to move us forward in the process of sanctification too. When there is conflict, Your way is to bring reconciliation, and You have given us the tools for spiritual warfare that will bring us success. For that and so much more, we humbly pledge to You our worship, adoration, loyalty, trust, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at examples from the Scriptures of how a covenant relationship between people and their king or leader impacts their lives and governments. God’s love is all around us. He eagerly awaits the times when we seek Him out for His leadership in our lives. The Lord wants to bless us abundantly. We can feel the warmth of His love if we will only focus our eyes on Him. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn