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Life Application BookletBerni Dymet
DISCOVER THE MISSIONAL POWER
AND SHEER JOY OF BEING A GOOD FRIEND
HOW TO BUILD LIFE-CHANGING FRIENDSHIPS
HOW TO BUILD LIFE-CHANGING
FRIENDSHIPS
by Berni Dymet
LIFE APPLICATION BOOKLET
Published by Christianityworks© Berni Dymet1st edition - Published 2021
Except where otherwise indicated in the text, the scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover design: Mariah Reilly Design, Sydney AustraliaWe gratefully acknowledge the creative contribution of Mariah Reilly in the cover design of this book.
Printed by: Creative Visions Print & Design, Warrawong, NSW, Australia
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise - without prior written permission.
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CONTENTSCHAPTER 1
Friendship Makes Us Stronger 5
CHAPTER 2How to Choose A Friend 19
CHAPTER 3Honouring A Friend 33
THIS BOOKLET IS OUR FREE GIFT TO YOU
Thank you for your generous support in making it freely
available to others
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CHAPTER 1Friendship Makes Us Stronger
Let’s face it, people can be a pain in the neck, can’t they? So what many of us do in this day and age – because we can – is that we isolate ourselves. Oh, we might be surrounded by lots of people, but we isolate ourselves emotionally. We bury our faces in our smartphones. We spend hours on social media, without ever really connecting with anyone in a meaningful way. We commute to and from work in our cars, alone, or even if we’re on public transport, we put our headphones in and hide from the world.
In fact, we’ve become incredibly good at isolating ourselves. But the truth is that none of us is an island. None of us can do it on our own. When we do try living that way, it saps our strength. The truth is that while relationships take time, while there is an emotional investment required, they make us stronger. That was always God’s plan.
One thing that I am not in life, I have to tell you, is an engineer or a builder. I can't contemplate anything more complex than bolting together a flat pack dog kennel and even that is challenging enough. Building a garden shed? Forget it. A house or a skyscraper or some
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massive bridge that seems so effortlessly to span a ravine or a harbour to carry trains and trucks and buses 24/7. That just blows my mind!
Have you ever looked at one of those massive, complex structures and thought to yourself, “How did they ever build that?” I mean where would you start? How would you imagine that such a thing were even possible, and then how would you design it? Where would you turn the first sod or sink the first pylon?
It's totally, totally inconceivable to me how they do those things. Pretty much everyone on the planet has seen a photograph of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge; the “coat hanger” as some people affectionately call it. They began building that bridge back in the late 1920’s and it was completed in 1932. Before computers, before a lot of the high-tech building technology, before the lifting and drilling equipment that we have at our disposal nowadays … and here’s how they did it.
They started it at each end: on the Northern Shore of the harbour, on the Southern Shore of the harbour and built their way out into the centre, so that the two ends of the bridge met in the middle. Now I just can’t imagine how they did that, can you?
I’ve seen a few photos of it being built and it looks completely impossible because you have half a bridge reaching out from a single pylon on the Southern Shore and half a bridge reaching out from a single pylon on the Northern Shore,
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and eventually the two meet in the middle. But before they do, the whole thing looks lopsided and you have to wonder to yourself, “How come the two massive ends didn’t just topple over and fall into the harbour?”
Well, here’s what the experts will tell you; the strength of the structure comes from the cross braces that are built into it. They don’t look particularly pretty; they have no purpose other than to work together with the rest of the structure to give it stability and strength. That’s how you can have half of this massive bridge stretching out from each side of the harbour without it toppling into the water. It’s the cross braces that did it.
“Now Berni, why are you rambling on about the Sydney Harbour Bridge for goodness’ sake? Aren’t we discussing friendship in this booklet?” Well, absolutely we are! I've been sharing this whole thing about the strength of this amazing bridge, because one of the key things about friendship is that it makes each one of us stronger than we could possibly be on our own.
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Don’t believe me? Have a read through God’s Word and see what God has to say on the subject.
“Again, I saw vanity under the sun: the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. “For whom am I toiling,” they ask, “and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.” (Ecclesiastes 4:7,8)
King Solomon, the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, starts off here talking about solitary individuals and sadly there are a lot of those in this world. People who struggle, work hard, dedicating their life to some task and for what? What’s the point of having wealth and comfort if you don’t have anyone to share it with?
My wife, Jacqui, and I live in a comfortable apartment. It’s nothing super flashy, there’s not some great water view or anything like that, it’s just comfortable and we’ve decorated it as tastefully as we can within our means. I love living there with her.
I’ve often looked around the place, and thought to myself, “You know Berni, without her it just wouldn’t mean anything.” The joy and the satisfaction that I have in our apartment isn’t because it’s some great apartment, but because it’s our home together. It’s not because it’s anything fantastic architecturally, it’s because it’s ours and we live there together.
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That’s what God is saying here. Possessions are not where it’s at. All that stuff is simply vanity – literally like a disappearing mist, a vapour – if you’re on your own. God’s solution? Let’s read on:
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
So, God’s solution is that two are much better than one, but why?
Firstly, because they have a good reward for their toil. In other words, there’s a great satisfaction in doing stuff together and achieving things together.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
Secondly, because two are stronger than one. If one falls over then the other can lift him up, but woe to the one who is alone and falls and doesn’t have another to help.
How often do we get it wrong? How often do we run out of steam or find ourselves bleeding on the ground without the strength to get up again? Right then, right in that place, we need a friend. You know what they say; a friend in need is a friend indeed (in deed)!
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For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.
Again, if we face some adverse circumstance (in this case the Holy Spirit uses an example that we can all relate to, being cold) then alone you perish. My father fought in the German army during WWII on the Russian front. He tells how, in temperatures of minus fifty degrees Celsius, they used to sleep in a close huddle, because without one another’s body heat, they would have died.
Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?
Speaking of armies, why is it that they are always in formations – sections, platoons, companies, battalions, brigades, divisions? Why exactly is that? Because if you’re attacked, you have a far better chance of survival when you’re surrounded by your friends than on your own.
And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one.
It’s quite a simple logic, but doesn’t it get to you how in our busyness, with all the other stuff that we have going on in our lives or perhaps in our selfishness, we’re not prepared to make the sacrifices that friendship demands. We become solitary individuals and then, when things turn to custard, when things go bad, we have no one next to us to help.
But most of all, I absolutely love how God finishes off this teaching. He says:
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A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Now hang on a minute, He was talking here about one and then He said, “Look, two is better than one”, but where did this third one come from? Well, here’s how I understand it. I think God is introducing Himself into this equation of friendship and relationship. Two’s great but three, two plus God binding them together, is absolutely stunning, it’s the strongest of all the three options.
I was preaching on this once in our church and demonstrated this truth by first having two people hold a single strand of cord tightly. Of course the moment I cut it, it fell apart. Then we platted two cords together and I was able to cut one cord here, the other one there and still the two held together, although when you pull them really tight at the ends they start to unravel.
Then we platted three cords together. I made about six or seven cuts in cords one and two over about two metres. Cord number three, representing God, I didn’t cut. Why? Because God never fails.
And do you know something, they hung together in this incredibly strong formation no matter how much we pulled at the ends, because ...
A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
That’s the truth. Whether it’s that picture of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, or the picture of the cords, you get it right? The truth is the two are better than one and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
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God built us to be in relationships and relationships make us stronger.
When you’re feeling weak, I can be strong for you and vice versa. And when we’re both a bit frayed at the edges, when we’re rubbing each other up the wrong way, God can hold things together for us in a way that only He can.
Friends make us stronger and when we introduce God into that friendship, when we forgive the way He wants us to, when we humble ourselves and sacrifice the way He calls us to, when we allow Him to be the Lord of this friendship of ours, then that is a friendship that cannot easily be broken.
It’s like those cross braces on the Harbour Bridge, with them in place you can build something that looks incredibly lopsided, something that almost certainly should fall into the ocean, and yet it will stand despite the weight, almost in defiance to the laws of physics.
Friends make each other strong and in Christ, the end result is so much greater than the sum of the parts. That’s the point!
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LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS:
QUESTION 1 On a scale of zero to ten, how good are you at investing time in friendships? Why do you think that is?
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QUESTION 2Just over the last twelve months, when did you have a time where you really could have used a friend, but somehow, you felt alone?
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QUESTION 3Who are the people that God has placed in your life to be your friends? Picture their faces, write down their names.
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QUESTION 4What could you do over the coming weeks and months to strengthen those relationships? Practical things.
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QUESTION 5How could you invest in the lives of those people to make them stronger?
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CHAPTER 2How to Choose A Friend
Okay, so yes, friends can make you stronger. They’re supposed to make you stronger, in the same way as you’re supposed to make them stronger. Two is definitely better than one and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
But not all friends are good friends.
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm. (Proverbs 13:20)
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
In other words, choosing the wrong friends can lead you astray. In fact, it can ruin your life.
So let me ask you today – how do you go about choosing your friends? My hunch is that quite a few of us have never really thought about it all too much. We just have … friends. But what if some of them aren’t the sorts of people who make good friends? What if some of those people are actually draining you, rather than doing what good friends do – making you stronger?
It’s always fascinating to me how people choose a marriage partner. What is it that clicks there? What is it that gets the chemistry going?
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I was watching a TV special a few months back where a great deal of research had been done on this very question. It was fascinating really, but despite all the research they still weren’t quite able to nail what it was.
There’s something so incredibly special when two people choose one another to become lifelong soulmates. It’s one of the great mysteries of God, and the moment I locked my eyes on the woman who is now my wife, Jacqui, there was no one else for me. I’m not sure how that works but I’m glad that it does.
And to a lesser degree, it kind of works that way with friends. You might be surrounded by a hundred people, but you only “click” with one or two of them. Why is that?
Well, there are some people I know, I can picture their faces right now, who I have to tell you would make terrible friends. I’m sure you have some of them in your life too and so they don’t become friends. We don't allow them into our inner circle because if we did, the relationship would damage us. And indeed, when we get that wrong, when we allow the wrong people into our lives, it does indeed cause us a great deal of pain. So how do we get it right? How do we choose good friends?
In my own personal devotion time over the past few weeks, I’ve been spending some time in the Old Testament Book of 1 Samuel. I have to tell you, it’s one of my favourite books because you discover so much about who God
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is. We see how He operates, what He thinks and how He reacts to things. Part of the story is that Israel demands a king. Previously, their system of government had been a “theocracy” which meant, in essence, that God was their head of state. But their faith weakened, and they demanded a king like all the other nations around them, as though somehow coming down to their level was a really good thing.
So, God gives them a king, Saul, having warned the people that it wouldn’t work out brilliantly well. But they still demanded the king, so they got what they deserved and surprise, surprise, things ultimately didn’t go so well. So one day God took His hand and His divine anointing of Saul and anointed a young shepherd, David to be the next king.
The problem was that with God’s anointing on him, David became strong and powerful, popular and successful. Meanwhile, Saul, who was still officially the king, became incredibly jealous of David. So Saul, not once but several times, set out to kill young David. Isn’t that how it so often goes?
The scene is set. David is in Saul’s sights. In those days the king had the power of life and death over his people, plain and simple. So if the king decided that you were going to die, then guess what? You were going to die.
The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did
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day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. David had success in all his undertakings; for the LORD was with him. When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.” (1 Samuel 18:10-16)
So, King Saul is still king, albeit in name only, but the anointing of God, God’s power, God’s favour to be king had quite clearly passed from Saul to this young kid David, and Saul just wanted to kill David in order to hang onto power. Obviously he didn’t, because David went on to become perhaps the greatest king that Israel ever had.
So, who or what does God use to stop Saul from killing David?
Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul ’s son Jonathan took great delight in David. Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will go out and
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stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.”
Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you; for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great victory for all Israel.
You saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause?” Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. (1 Samuel 19:1-7)
So it turns out that Saul’s own son, the very man who according to human logic would well be the next in line for the throne, decides to save David’s life. The question you have to ask is why? What caused him to do that? What was in his head? What was he thinking?
Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and all his servants about killing David but Saul's son Jonathan took great delight in David. (1 Samuel 19:1)
Something inside Jonathan just clicked. He could see what everyone else could see. He could
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see the mighty hand of God on David. He could see the power of God on David; the favour of God on David. He could see the humility and the power and the goodness of this man David who had been anointed to become the king, and so he chose to become David’s friend. He stood up to his all-powerful father, King Saul and defended David.
It’s quite some risk to his own position, even to his own life you’d have to say. Remember, Saul could have had his own son struck down and killed as well, such was the power of the king.
It seems the way that Jonathan chose David as a friend was to see the goodness of God in him. Now, not all the people who’d be our friends are perfect, are they? But what a fantastic first criterion for choosing a friend! Is this a good person? Is this a godly person? Is this the sort of person whom God would choose for me?
Well, as it turned out David was exactly the sort of person that God would choose. He’d already chosen him to become king and not according to the world’s criteria of good looks, outward success, presentation and physical strength. No! How did God choose David? Here’s what God said to the prophet Samuel when he was sent to choose a king from amongst Jesse’s sons:
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is now before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance
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or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 6:16,17)
Might I suggest that when you’re looking for a good friend, a friend for whom you are prepared to stand up, a friend in whom you are prepared to invest, a friend of whom you expect the same in return … that you too choose someone after God’s own heart?
Samuel said to Saul, “ You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you. The LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom will not continue; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart; and the LORD has appointed him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13:13,14)
And again, just in case we missed it …
Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ (Acts 13:21,22)
In choosing your friends, don’t rely on outward appearances. Don’t judge people the way the
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world judges them. Check out their heart, their character, their track record in honouring God.
Is this man, this woman, a man or woman of God … or not?
Is this prospective friend a man or woman after God’s own heart … or not?
That’s how you choose a friend.
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LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
QUESTION 1Write down a list of your closest friends. One by one, write them down, picture their faces.
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QUESTION 2Now, ask yourself … is this man, is this woman, a man or woman after God’s own heart? Yes … or no?
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QUESTION 3When it comes to the ones with a “no” beside their name, what is God calling you to do? Is He calling you to end a toxic friendship, or has He called you as His emissary into that person’s life?
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QUESTION 4If the former, then set about ending the relationships. If the latter, how can you be a witness of His Majesty into that person’s life?
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QUESTION 5Of those with a “yes” beside their name, how can you build a stronger, deeper, richer relationship with those people, one that builds you both up in Christ?
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QUESTION 6If you are married, know this, God’s desire is never to end that relationship. His call is for you to stand by your soul mate until death you do part. How can you grow your marriage relationship for His glory?
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CHAPTER 3Honouring A Friend
In this day and age, with internet shopping all the rage, with the world in the palm of our hands, we have become consumers par excellence, have we not? And so we tend to approach this subject of friendship from the perspective of what’s in it for me?
Put friendship, as we know, is a two-way street. And just as we’ve been chatting about what makes a good friend from the perspective of choosing friends, we need to look in the mirror and ask that same question of ourselves.
Do I make a good friend?
If someone were to apply those same criteria for choosing a friend that we chatted about in the previous chapter to you, how would you come off? Would you be a ‘‘yes’’ or a ‘‘no’’ on their list.
Now there’s a scary thought!
So, in the last chapter we saw how young David’s life was threatened by King Saul, after he was anointed by God through the Prophet Samuel, to take over as King. And we also saw how a young man by the name of Jonathan chose David to be his friend, to protect him, to save his life at the risk of his own.
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Now that’s all okay until you realise that Jonathan was King Saul’s son. David was likely to take the throne away from Saul, so Saul was trying to kill David. If he could do that, then Jonathan would probably succeed his father on the throne of Israel one day.
Yet despite that, despite his own self-interest, Jonathan befriends David. He stands up for him, saves him not once but multiple times from being killed by Saul. And what we discovered in the last chapter is that the reason Jonathan took this extraordinary step was because he was impacted by the goodness and the godliness of David. He saw into David's heart and was impacted by that and so chose David to be his friend in the same way that God chose David as a friend, not by assessing outward appearances but by perceiving the man’s heart.
A friend in need is a friend indeed!
And David was definitely in need of a friend because each time God, through Jonathan, saved him from being killed by Saul, Saul again would be attacked by an evil spirit and would again come after David.
So, if ever David needed a friend, it was at this time of his life and that friend was Jonathan – a man who, as we’re about to see was willing to put his very life on the line for David even though David was effectively his rival for the throne. Let’s have a read of the powerful impact of Jonathan’s friendship with David.
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David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin against your father that he is trying to take my life?” He said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me; and why should my father hide this from me? Never!” But David also swore, “ Your father knows well that you like me; and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the meal; but let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening. If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant; but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him.
Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?” Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was decided by my father that evil should come upon you, would
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I not tell you?” Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” Jonathan replied to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
Jonathan said to David, “By the LORD, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you?
But if my father intends to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you, and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the LORD; but if I die, never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the LORD were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”
Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD seek out the enemies of David.” Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life.
Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, because your place will be empty. On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there. I will shoot three
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arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. Then I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, collect them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go; for the LORD has sent you away. As for the matter about which you and I have spoken, the LORD is witness between you and me forever.” (1 Samuel 20:1-23)
Now, the reason I share this with you is that in the previous chapter, we saw how Jonathan spoke up for David and thereby saved his life. But here, Jonathan’s taking a huge next step. He’s actually prepared to work covertly against his father to save David’s life, and he gives himself only a fifty-fifty chance of making it through alive. Look again at verses 14 and 15, he says:
If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the LORD; but if I die, never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the LORD were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.
Jonathan has seen the goodness in David’s heart. He can tell that God has anointed him to be king. You and I know how that works. You can just tell when the hand of God is on someone’s life, can’t you? So, instead of fighting God, the way his father Saul is doing by trying to kill David, instead of trying to hang onto
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the throne for himself, Jonathan lays down his needs, his wants, his priorities and his desires and puts his very life on the line for David.
Now unless he’d done that, David would likely never have become king. Had Jonathan not done what he did, the whole history of Israel would have been changed. Looking back on it, we can see how the history of Israel hung precariously on the friendship that Jonathan had for David and the protection of that friendship.
Of course, it wasn’t precarious at all. Because God knew Jonathan’s heart too. He knew that he could rely on Jonathan to play the sacrificial role of a true friend.
Jonathan was a friend, a true friend and a friend in-deed because not only did he speak well of David to his father (let’s face it, talk is cheap) but he was prepared to put his life on the line for his friend. He was prepared to sacrifice everything in order to honour his friend and that, that right there is true friendship.
Someone who not only speaks well of you but who honours you through sacrificing for you. That’s what a friend in-deed truly is. And that, precisely that, is the sort of friend that God is calling you and me to be. The sort of friend who is prepared to do what … lay down his life. Hang on, where have we heard that before? Jesus …
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ( John 15:13)
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Those words came from the lips of the Son of God who laid down His life for us.
Some decades later, the Apostle Paul put it like this:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-6).
That’s precisely the sort of friend that you and I are called to be. A Jonathan-friend. A Jesus-friend. A friend who isn’t driven by selfishness and self-promotion, but one who’s prepared to lose it all for another.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
That’s the sort of friend that you’re called to be. Be that friend, for Christ’s sake.
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A Closing PrayerLord God, it is so amazing how Your Word speaks into every aspect, every corner of our lives – even into our friendships. Especially into our friendships. So I ask You Lord God today for three things.
Firstly, that amidst all the busyness of my life, by Your Spirit and Your Word, You would refocus me on the importance of my relationships in Your scheme of things. That You would fill my heart with a desire to impact lives, to make others stronger and to be made stronger through godly friendships.
Secondly Lord, give me great wisdom, loving wisdom, wisdom from above, to choose good friends, godly friends; to deepen my relationship with those friends; to end relationships that are not of You.
And finally Lord, teach me to be that Jonathan, to be that Jesus in the lives of my friends. Teach me Lord I pray, no matter what the cost … even if it should cost me my life – as it did Jonathan, as it did You.
For Your sake, for Your glory, in Your name I ask … in Jesus’ name I ask, amen.
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Here at Christianityworks our passion is seeing countless lives transformed one by one, as we share the good news of Jesus through the media around the globe.
It’s something that we’ve been doing since 1957. Of course back then we were known as Back to the Bible, changing our name to Christianityworks in 2001.
Today, the radio and television broadcasts that we produce with the support of friends like you, reach a weekly audience that we conservatively estimate to be over 20 million people in 160 countries.
We believe that as we make innovative use of mass media – radio, television, digital + online and print – God works mightily by His Spirit and His Word, transforming lives.
In fact, its not something that we just believe, it’s something that we know.
We receive so many testimonies each month from around the globe, of lives that have been saved, touched and transformed as God works through the ministry of Christianityworks.
Thank you for remembering that Christianityworks is a faith-based ministry. We rely on the support of friends like you to reach the lost with the saving love of Jesus.
Your secure, online gift today will make a powerful difference in the lives of so many.
To give, just visit: christianityworks.com/donate.
Thank you with all my heart.
Your friend in Jesus,
Berni Dymet
About Christianityworks
Here at Christianityworks our passion is seeing countless lives transformed one by one, as we share the good news of Jesus through the media around the globe.
It’s something that we’ve been doing since 1957. Of course back then we were known as Back to the Bible, changing our name to Christianityworks in 2001.
Today, the radio and television broadcasts that we produce with the support of friends like you, reach a weekly audience that we conservatively estimate to be over 20 million people in 160 countries.
We believe that as we make innovative use of mass media – radio, television, digital + online and print – God works mightily by His Spirit and His Word, transforming lives.
In fact, its not something that we just believe, it’s something that we know.
We receive so many testimonies each month from around the globe, of lives that have been saved, touched and transformed as God works through the ministry of Christianityworks.
Thank you for remembering that Christianityworks is a faith based ministry. We rely on the support of friends like you to reach the lost with the saving love of Jesus.
Your secure, online gift today, will make a powerful difference in the lives of so many.
To give, just visit: christianityworks.com/donate.
Thank you with all my heart.
Your friend in Jesus,
Berni Dymet
ABOUT CHRISTIANITYWORKS
HOW TO BUILD LIFE-CHANGING FRIENDSHIPS
Friendship is one of the most important things in our lives. Particularly when we’re in need – that’s when we really need a friend. But interestingly, you don’t hear many people talk about what God has to say about friendship through His Word. It turns out, He has rather a lot to say actually. Think about it, it was through His relationships (friendships) with the Twelve Disciples, that Jesus kicked off “the church”. In fact, those friendships are still impacting us today!! In this latest booklet, Berni opens up God’s Word to discover God’s enormous wisdom on the subject of … friendships.
DISCOVER THE MISSIONAL POWER AND SHEER JOY OF BEING A GOOD FRIEND
you have God’s Word on that
Berni Dymet
