69 DAVID and JONATHAN

 

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DAVID and JONATHAN

Today's chapter is 1 Samuel chapter 18

read the section the verse refers to

We hopefully all have good and close friends, we have good acquaintances and then we have some in the network with whom we share other interests. When we have more than 1000 "friends" on Facebook, for example, we all know that they are not friends in that way, but still people we like to follow in life.
What is a good friendship and how is it developed? In the Bible we find several examples of friendships and we find that friends can often have different functions in our lives - or we use them in different ways.

GOD DID NOT CREATE US TO BE ALONE. He created us so that we can have relationships with God and people. Not just family relationships or work relationships, but friendships that fill some of the gaps we have in our own personality. We experience that deep friendships complement us and expand our horizons and understanding, love us, and support us and are always there when we need to laugh and rejoice, or we are standing with our heads against the wall and need comfort, encouragement and care.

We find several examples of friendships in the Bible, but the most famous are probably David and Jonathan. 1 Samuel chapter 18 describes their friendship. “Immediately a warm bond of friendship arose between David and Jonathan; and Jonathan’s soul was knit with David’s, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul…”

One of the characteristics of a deep friendship is that you love each other as you love yourself. Not only did Jonathan give David his possessions, which represented power and position. Jonathan was extremely loyal to David, and he also warned him of King Saul’s intention to kill him. The two friends shared a deep emotional bond, and were not afraid to share their feelings with each other in a healthy way

It was precisely love, loyalty/integrity and emotional openness towards each other that tied them closely together. The word used for love in 1 Samuel points to a diplomatic and platonic connection to each other – something that we unfortunately do not see much of in our culture.

I have several very good African friends, and I have noticed that sometimes when we are together, my African friends hold my hand, we walk together for a bit. I really believe that God has also created us with the ability to establish a warm friendship, where we can share life and feelings with each other – Not only good, well-meaning words, but also an emotional reaching out to each other characterizes a good friendship.

God, help us to find the right and true friends!

Real friends are faithful.

Amen