Be A Friend

Jonathan then said to David, "Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of YHWH when we said, 'YHWH will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.'" - 1 Samuel 20:42

David and Jonathan were the best of friends. More than that, they shared a bond that led them to make a pledge that would last beyond both of their lifetimes. Today such relationships between men (or women) may be immediately categorized by our American culture in an unbiblical context. Some have even wrongly tried to characterize David and Jonathan's relationship in this way.

It is a blessing from God when two men or two women find a common purpose in the Almighty. This kind of friendship is bound together by trust, covenant, and blood, Christ's blood. Many who have served our country in time of conflict have known such relationships and others who have served our Lord have known it as well.

If you have such a friend, give thanks to God. We need each other now more than ever.

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares. - Henri Nouwen