Friendship!

From The Heart of Pastor Shane (January 25, 2019)

[Pastor  Shane’s note:  I recommend reading 1 Samuel 18 before reading this devotional]

In 1 Samuel 18:1-5, we read of the start of a covenantal friendship between David and Jonathan.  Now, there are some people who take this passage way out of context and say that David and Jonathan were in a homosexual relationship.  This entire idea should be thrown in the garbage, because the Hebrew word “love” used in these passages is not the word used for sexual activity.  In addition, advocating homosexuality in these passages contradicts all the other scriptures in the Bible, therefore it must be known that the Bible does not contradict itself.

What we must understand is that these two men were very close good friends.  We can see in their friendship, three qualities that we all need to see in our true friends.  (1). They sacrificed for each other (1 Samuel 18:4).  We see where Jonathan gave David his clothes as a gift because he spotted that David would one day be king of Israel.  (2).  We read in over in 1 Samuel 19:1-3, where Jonathan was loyal and defended David by King Saul who told his people to kill David.  Jonathan rebuked Saul and reminded him of David killing Goliath (1 Samuel 19:1-3).  (3). Jonathan and David expressed their emotions with each other.  We read in 1 Samuel 20, where David and Jonathan cried together.

This is an example of a biblical account of true friendship.  We must all realize that a true friendship according to the Bible, involves devotion, sacrifice, cooperation, and even emotional attachment.  I’ll close with one thing, David was “a man after God’s own heart” and any thought or idea that Jonathan and David were practicing homosexual (or bisexual) is absurd and outlandish and has absolutely no biblical basis.  Amen!

~Pastor Shane

Disclaimer: Pastor Shane's devotions are written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God and are never intended to be directed toward any one individual or group or any particular situation. These daily devotions are sent to thousands of subscribers through different mediums and is intended to proclaim truths from the Word of God. Thank you for taking the time to read and please continue to pray for wisdom as Pastor Shane's heart is to write in a spirit of love and to bring life application for every day living to those who are reading. ~Blessings!