Happy Sabbath friends! God highly encourages friendship, and that is exemplified all throughout the Word of God. Who you surround yourself with can highly influence your mental, spiritual, and physical well-being. With this fact in mind, it is very important to be mindful on who you spend your time around. Throughout my life, I have had a variety of friends, and each of them I am thankful for, even if they are no longer in my life, because I wouldn’t be who I am today without them. I have been friends with people who barely knew Christ at all, who have known Him all their life, and even those who didn’t have a desire to know Him. As I have grown, I have been learning the importance of being selective with who is in my life. By doing so, I have noticed a positive change with my mental, spiritual, and physical well-being. I can confidently state that for the first time in my life, I am surrounding myself with people who only encourage, motivate, and support my walk with Christ.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
Proverbs 27:17 NIV
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV
When I think of the concept of friendship in the Bible, the first story that comes to mind would be the story of David and Jonathan. They shared such a genuine and loving friendship that only honored the Lord our God, so why not make it our focus for today’s message?
To give some context on the story of David and Jonathan…this is when King Saul was still alive (spoiler alert if you have not read the last chapter of 1 Samuel). Jonathan is King Saul’s son, and David is the son of King Saul’s servant, Jesse of Bethlehem. David ended up working under King Saul and was given a high rank in his army, until one day, King Saul becomes very angry with David. He was so angry with him, that he became fearful of him because King Saul knew the Lord was with him. This only enraged King Saul more which led to a desire to end David’s life. Saul tries to make numerous attempts to kill David, but because of Jonathan’s deep and genuine love for David, he protects him.
“Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?” “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!” But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.” Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.” So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the Lord. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?” “Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?” David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” “Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together. Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.” So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.” And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the Lord lives, you are safe; there is no danger. But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the Lord is witness between you and me forever.” So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan, and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.” But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.” Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!” “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David. In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. (The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.” After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most. Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’ ” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.”
1 Samuel 20:1-42 NIV
The story of David and Jonathan is such a meaningful story which truly exemplifies the concept of friendship. Especially friendship with God in the center. David and Jonathan’s friendship was so strong that even King Saul saw it, and when he was planning his murderous attempt against David, he knew not to share it with Jonathan knowing the connection they shared. God promotes friendships that are so strong that other people around them can see it. God craves for a friendship with us that when others look at us, they can see how strong the friendship truly is. There may or may not be people in your life that when you look at them, you see Jesus within them. That is how Jesus wants our relationship to be with Him…so strong that anyone around us can see the love and happiness radiating out of us. “Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself” the love and bond that Jonathan and David shared was so strong, and this is the kind of friendship that the Lord delights in, and desires with each of us. Jonathan’s love for David was so strong that he was willing to sacrifice his own life to protect David’s. Doesn’t that sound familiar?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NIV
Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His own life to save us from our sins and transgressions. The Lord emphasizes the importance of friendship, and how true friendship should be deep and genuine, so much so that it should exemplify the same friendship we share with our Heavenly Father.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15:13 NIV
How much would you do for the friends in your life? Have you spent so much of your life worried about yourself, and not about those around you? When was the last time you showed appreciation towards one of your friends? Would those around you see happiness and love radiating out from you when you are with specific friends?
We should surround ourselves with people who resemble a similar attribute to the Lord, and even David and Jonathan’s friendship: “Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you”. As friends of the Lord, and even friends of others, we should take time to examine how often we have truly been there for those around us. One thing about myself is I have a lot of love to give, even to my friends. I relate to David and Jonathan’s story as when I love someone, I love hard, and it hurts so much when that same love is not returned. David and Jonathan shared a reciprocal love towards one another, and that is what made the friendship flourish. We should not settle to surround ourselves with people who do not reciprocate, or who tear us further away from our Heavenly Father. We should be surrounded by others who will sharpen, uplift, motivate, and encourage us. They should resemble a character similar to Jesus who also sharpens, uplifts, motivates, and encourages us every single day.
“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.””
1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV
“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
Proverbs 13:20 NIV
I pray over all who may be reading this message that they may be filled with Your love and happiness, Lord Jesus. Throughout our lives, we will be faced with all different types of friendships, but despite all that we face, help us to remember that You are the greatest friend we could ever have. You are the definition and example of what a friendship should be and look like. Bless us with the decisiveness and wisdom to know who we should surround ourselves with, and who we should stray from. Guide us to friendships that exemplify a similar friendship to the one David and Jonathan shared with one another. Thank You for always looking out for us, and for wanting us to be surrounded by others who only allow happiness and love to shine out from within us.
Thank You for constantly reminding us that no matter what, we have a friend in You.
“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”
John 15:14-17 NIV
Amen.
Saved By His Grace 
Leave a comment