I think one of the most amazing things that Jesus ever created is friendship. I mean think about it. There are people in our lives that hold no legal or family responsibility to us. They usually do not get much material gain by knowing us. There are people in this world that love us, spend time with us, invest in us, and share their lives with us simply because they choose to. They deem us worthy of getting to know. They see value in our breath and purpose in our hearts. There are people out there that willingly pursue us even on days when we do not deserve it because they call us friend. Now THAT is a gift. And I will think both now and forever that friends are the best possible gifts that Jesus can give. Friendship. Wow. Thank you Jesus for it.
My heart was stirred this week here at the Kanakuk Institute. We have been making our way through what is called the "Kingdom Era" in the Old Testament. The Kingdom Era is just a fancy phrase we use to sum up the books of 1 Samuel through 2 Chronicles. We came across a story in 1 Samuel 18-20 and just take a guess what it is about!!
FRIENDSHIP!
Here we have the story of David and Jonathan. At this point in scripture, a guy named Saul is king and he starts to get jealous of David because he is becoming very popular among the people. David is the next promised king of Israel and Saul is trying to do everything he can to make that not happen. He gets pretty violent! But here is the twist. Jonathan, his son, is David's best friend. Talk about conflict of interest.
Someday, please go read 1 Samuel and read about how sweet this friendship was. It is incredible. But I do want to tell you two things that I saw in Jonathan that blew me away.
Jonathan was David's faithful advocate and biggest fan.
Jonathan literally went to his dad time and time again standing up for David and doing everything in his power to save David from getting killed by his father Saul. He spoke on David's behalf, pleading his case. He rallied around David, aware of the plans that God had for David, and did not let him lose hope of that. He did everything in his power to reconcile David and his father. He was for David. So much so that he willingly died for him so that David could be king.
Interceder. Reconciler. Advocate. Hope-filled. Willfully laying down a life so that others may find life. Hmmm. Sounds like someone else I know...
2. Jonathan LOVED well.
Here is where my heart just soars. 1 Samuel 18:1 says that Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. Jonathan gave advice when asked, listened when comfort was needed, fought when protection was needed, and even died when he had to.
Scripture says that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David.
They cared, loved, and fought for each other's souls. They looked passed the interior and saw the heart. They had been through things together. The good. The bad. The ugly. All of it. Their hearts were alike. The got past the surface level and got into the parts of the human heart that are hard to share with people. They saw each other, they knew each other, and despite all the ugliness, they cared for the other. Their souls were knitted together.
They were soul friends.
I hope you all have "soul friends" in your life. These are the people who simply get you. They have seen it all and still choose to love you. They see the depths of your soul and still choose to see Jesus in you. They are faithful, consistent, and point you to the truth found in God's word. It is a person in your life whose soul is knitted to yours because they are like minded in the their pursuit of Jesus.
I want you to meet one of mine.
While I have multiple I consider soul friends, here is one of my most cherished. This is Mari Grace. We met my sophomore year of college in Puerto Rico on a mission trip for our volleyball team. MG is silly, quirky, really bad at English, and has one terrible knee.
But here are things that Mari Grace is really good at. She loves me incredibly well. Like even when I am SO hard to love. She seeks me out and loves me anyway. She makes me laugh. She sits with me when I cry. She loves Jesus a lot and lets that permeate everything about her. She is kind. She is bold. She is persistent. She is loyal. She listens to me talk through my feelings. (which is A LOT). But most importantly, she loves me like Jesus and has seen the worst parts of me, and has picked me up and laid me at the feet of Jesus. She has seen my soul and has chosen to love me anyway. She is one of my soul friends.
I would even say that our souls are knitted together. Only because of our mutual pursuit to love Jesus more today than we did yesterday.
Thank you Jesus for Mari Grace.
BUT!
Here is the deal. As amazing as Mari Grace is, I know someone else who has seen all of me and has loved me anyway. Like Jonathan, He has knitted my heart to his and won't let it go. Like Jonathan, he has reconciled me to himself. He was interceded for me. He has pursued all of me every single day of my life. He is my advocate. He even willingly laid down his life so that I did not have to die the punishment of death I deserve because of my sin.
His name is Jesus and he is my greatest, deepest, and sweetest soul friend.
As incredible of friends Jonathan and Mari Grace are, they pale in comparison to the friendship I have found in Christ. His friendship is the sweetest thing I have ever known and I pray that when people look at me, they can confidently say that my heart is knitted to sweet, kind, holy, and perfect heart of my Father who loves me.
Jesus, thank you for being my greatest friend. Never stop knitting my soul to yours. Everything means nothing if I do not have you.
"What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
And what a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer"
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