FRIENDSHIP

[cimi]

April 2
Tuesday


FRIENDSHIP

READ:
1 Samuel 23:14-18
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A friend loves at all
times.
__Proverbs 17:17
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Friendship is one of life's greatest gifts. True friends seek a special kind of good for their friends: the highest good, which is that they might know God and love Him with all of their heart, soul, and mind. German pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, ""The aim of friendship is exclusively determined by what God's will is for the other person."

Jonathan, David's friend, is a sterling example of true friendship. David was in exile, hiding in the Desert of Ziph, when he learned that "Saul had come out to seek his life" (1 sam. 23:15). Jonathan went to Horesh to find David. The significance of this scene lies in Jonathan's intent: He helped David find strength in God or, as the text puts it, he "strengthened his hand [grip] in God" (v.16).

That is the essence of Christian friendship. Beyond common interests, beyond affection, beyond wit and laughter is the ultimate aim of sowing in others the words of eternal life, leaving them with reminders of God's wisdom, refreshing their spirit with words of His love, and strengthening their grip on God.

Pray for your friends and ask God to give you a word "in season" to help them find renewed strength in our God and His Word. __David Roper

Dear Lord, thatnk You for loving us. May Your
love compel us to show love to others. Give us
senisitivity to Your Spirit that we might know how
to encourage them in their walk with You.
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A true friend is a gift from God
and one who points us back to Him.

****Today's Bible Reading __ 1Samuel 23:14-18****

14 And David stayed in
strongholds in the
wilderness, and remained in
the mountains in the
Wilderness of Ziph. Saul
sought him every day, but
God did not deliver him
into his hand.

15 So David saw that Saul
had come out to seek his
life. And David was in the
Wilderness of Ziph in a
forest. 16 Then Jonathan,
Saul's son, arose and went
to David in the woods and
strengthened his hand in
God. 17 And he said to him,
"Do not fear, for the hand
of Saul my father shall not
find you. You shall be king
over Israel, and I shall be
next to you. Even my father
Saul knows that." 18 So the
two of them made a
covenant before the LORD.
And David stayed in the
woods, and Jonathan went
to his own house.

>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<

The relationship between David and Jonathan was truly remarkable. Jonathan was the son of King Saul and heir to the throne that David had been anointed to occupy. However, Jonathan believed so strongly in God's selection and anionting of David as king that he helped and encouraged his friend, at great personal cost. In a sense, Jonathan was doing what Jesus described as the mark of a true friend when He said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13). Jonathan was laying aside much of what his life might have been to be a friend to David.

[clark thompson]

the story of Johnatan and David is one of my favorites it hows even in times of trouble we can have a close friend near by