1 Samuel 18

“Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Samuel 18:1).

We have already been able to look into the life of Jonathan. Jonathan is one of the most selfless people in the Bible. He had no interest in his own well being, but was always taking chances with his life for the sake of others. We have already read about how Jonathan and his armor bearer took out an entire Philistine army. His mind set as simple; if God is for me, who can stand against me? Now we see David coming on to the scene. As we watch David become more and more popular amongst the people, we are going to see Saul become more and more hostile against David. There was no reason for Saul to become hostile. He was the king. He had his day in the spotlight. He had his victories. Now there was a new king chosen by God who would take his place in time. In reality, the guy who should have been angry was Jonathan. He was the next king lined up. He was always being the good guy. Despite this, we see Jonathan, once again taking the selfless position by understanding that David is called to be King. Jonathan instead vows to protect David and gives up his own royal armor in honor of his friend. Wow.

Friendship is an interesting thing. I had many friends in between the ages of 13-17. Some of those friends I do not see around anymore because they moved or went to college, etc. Others I do not see because they have fallen away from the Lord. Those who I continue to see, or be in fellowship with though they have left, is because they are still following God. I have made so many friends simply because we had a love for Jesus in common.

Gang, invite Jesus into your friendships. If your friendship is focused around just having a good time, then when the good times are through those friends will not be there for you. You will end up relying on them and they will end up letting you down. Like any form of relationship, friendship is filled with expectations and when someone falls short of those expectations then you find yourself discouraged and let down. However when you are keeping both eyes on Jesus, you persevere even when friendship lets you down. You will find yourself going the extra mile for your friends. You will find yourself less concerned about how they view you, and more concerned about serving them. Think about Jonathan’s friendship with David. It would end up causing him to have to sneak David out of the kingdom. It would cause a tear between him and his own father. It would cause his dad to attack him! Jonathan did these things for a man who would take away his own position on a throne. Jonathan was truly selfless and an excellent example for all of us to follow.