Loyalty

God-Ordained Relationships (Part II)

Leave a Comment / Agree, Comparison, Competition, Loyalty, Relationships / By

The friendship between Jonathan and David is one of the most beautiful and profound relationships depicted in the Bible. What were the elements that made this relationship so special?

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. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. 1 Samuel 18:1-4 (NKJV)

David and Jonathan’s relationship was more than mere friendship. It was a binding agreement of loyalty and support that reflected the will of God and the purpose of God that was prophesied over David.

The phrase “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David” signifies a deep love. This kind of friendship is rare, built on mutual respect, admiration, and a shared faith in God.

Nowadays, it is hard to find these kinds of friendships. It seems like many relationships are limited to a certain seasons of life or certain activities in life. Are you investing in friendships that nourish your soul and bring you closer to God? Are you giving to others as you are receiving from them? 

David and Jonathan’s relationship had certain elements that made it successful:

Their Love was selfless

A relationship cannot just be about what is in it for me .  Jonathan’s love for David was selfless, as he loved David “as his own soul.” This reflects the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31). True friendship involves giving of ourselves.

A mutual understanding and agreement

David and Jonathan had made a covenant with each other. They must have had various conversations that brought them to actually make a commitment to each other to be steadfast in their relationship.

Sometimes, relationships don’t go well because two people have a different vision and expectation for the relationship, but they have never openly discussed those expectations. As a result, one person continues to be disappointed in the relationship, and the other one may not even realize that there is a problem.

Focused on God’s Purpose 

Jonathan giving David his robe, armor, sword, bow, and belt was symbolic. It represented Jonathan’s recognition of David’s future role and his willingness to support him even at great personal cost. How willing are we to honor and uplift our friends, even if it means making sacrifices? Sadly, many times, friendships tends to start out right but, eventually, comparison and competition by one or both people sets in that poisons the friendship.

Let’s examine our relationships based on the quality of mutual love, mutual benefit, and how the Lord leads us in the relationship.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Zaccheus’ House, a Traitor’s Camp

Leave a Comment / Loyalty, Prejudice / By

Zaccheus, a chief tax collector sought to meet Jesus. What he didn’t know was that Jesus was seeking to meet him as well.

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.   But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Luke 19: 1-7

Jesus called to Zaccheus, and He invited himself to his house! Those who saw Him could not believe that Jesus, a rabbi and a friend of down and out was willing to go to a sinner’s house! They must have been disappointed by His lack of loyalty to them. In their minds, He was choosing to switch camps and go to a traitor’s house to stay!

Most of us have experienced situations where there are two or more camps at any given time. In government you have two parties competing to get the most votes and snatch the most powerful seats. At work, there are those who strive for boss’ attention and those who want to be an advocate for the average employee. At school, there are those who criticize the teachers/administration and the few who want to be the perfect student for the teachers. You can find camps in the church as well.

Sometimes the decision to be part of a camp is choosing between good and evil. There are times that one has to choose between evil and lesser evil. At other times it is a choice between better and best.

The truth of the matter is every camp can be wrong on certain issues. Each camp has its prejudices and half truths; Jesus’ camp (His own disciples) were wrong at times. One time, they tried to keep the children from coming to Jesus. James and John wanted to call down fire on people to be consumed for not receiving Jesus. Peter cut off  guard’s ear who came to arrest Jesus. While in all these situations, Jesus was perfect, but His camp still had issues!

I personally do not like being part of a camp because it creates a mindset of  “us against them”. However, sometimes by just desiring to do right, you make an unspoken decision to be part of a camp. Regardless of the camp we are part of, we have to be willing to ask the tough questions and not just be happy to be part of a camp.

If we are going to be followers of Christ, we have to shut our ears to propaganda from any direction and seek the face of God and what pleases Him. When we seek to please the Lord, there is a great likelihood that many will not like us. The ones who are part of our camp will accuse us of being traitors, and those who are outside of our camp will consider us to be man pleasers.

Our priority should be to please God rather than belonging to a camp. If our focus is to please our camp or raise hostility/envy in another camp, we are not being right!  When seek God first in everything, we will continue to walk in integrity with Him. If we happen to be part of a camp, then we need to do our part to keep it healthy.

Despite the reaction from the crowd, Jesus took the risk to go to Zacheuus’ house. They complained, but Jesus had a greater assignment than to please men. He wasn’t doing it to please Zacheuus nor was he doing it to make people angry. He was doing it because God led Him. He was not choosing a camp!

Are you part of a camp? Do you see the issues within your own camp as clearly as you see the issues in other camps? Are you willing to speak up or do something about them? Jesus is seeking us out today to give us what our camp is not capable of giving us.

Zacheuus is about to come face to face with the reality of His camp. I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.