commitment...
that's what we looked at last night...
specifically two commitments...jonathon's commitment to david and david's commitment to saul.
the commitment of jonathon to david is fascinating. it is a fast-formed friendship. they click instantly. it seems at least, without the need for approval or affirmation. and it seems to be a one-directional relationship...from jonathon to david. and it centers around a "berith" covenant. (berith is the hebrew word used here for covenant) the covenant that jonathon gives to david.
the most fascinating piece of this commitment is the beautiful parallel that it forms with the covenantal commitment that God makes with us. i believe we cannot encounter the beginnings of the relationship between jonathon and david, without being pointed directly to God's commitment to us through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross.
david's commitment to saul is a fascinating one as well. david would have been completely justified in cursing saul and running the other way, after two spears had gone whizzing by his ear. he instead chooses a different way.
he remains committed to saul, in what i believe was a makrothumia spirit. makrothumia is this great greek word that means: "the spirit that never loses patience with, belief in and hope for others". david doesn't lose patience with, belief in or hope for saul...and i believe that was because he believed that saul could still be the king God wanted him to be. david didn't give up on saul, and i think that is because david believed that God hadn't given up on saul.
looking at the commitment of david to saul should inspire us to this makrothumia spirit as well.
and it wasn't until i was praying to close last night, that it really hit me, that it isn't until we truly grasp the covenant and commitment of God to us, that is shown metaphorically in jonathon's commitment to david, that we can then truly have a commitment like david's toward others.
in some senses the words of 1 john 4:10 seem so simple:
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
and yet, truly grasping these words, changes everything.
do you grasp these words in your daily life? how might grasping them more change you?
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