King-like Friendship

Posted by Timothy

August 19, 2008

It’s easy to presume that it is lonely at the top. It often it. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it is much preferable not to be.

David, the king to be, was friends with Jonathan, the son of the reigning king, Saul:

“After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself….And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow, and his belt.”

1 Samuel 18:1-4

Jonathan wasn’t doing this to a man who had already become king. He was doing it out of love and friendship. The lesson isn’t to find your own Jonathan.

It’s to become like him. To someone who is going to become a king in his own right.

Yes, it is easy to make the case that David rises because of his friendship with Jonathan, and that has not been lost on me. That is important to have those friendships, but Jonathan is held up as a model of how to invite such friendships into our lives.

I see two things: 1) are the friends around you like Jonathan? If not, you could be crippled; 2) are you befriending others, others than are exhibiting the King-like attributes as David had?

I myself have pruned relationships — and in hindsight, too late — with people who have “losing” mentalities, an inability to be supportive, and undealt with anger issues. And valued and cultivated those coming closer to the “Jonathan’s” in life.

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