Go Deep

"Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life."

(1 Samuel 20:17)

Good friends are worth their weight in gold. And not as common as we may suppose. I'the kind of person who makes friends fairly easily. But not deep friendships. I'm on a "friendly acquaintance" relationship with many people... but have very few deep friendships. Less than a handful. Well, three, actually. Just three.

The story of David & Jonathan is a story of deep friendship. Jonathan was the son of King Saul, the first king of Israel. David, Jonathan's age, came to be employed by Saul - first in his palace as a musician, then as a soldier (and later commander) in the army. Over time, Saul became extremely paranoid and jealous of David. He saw him as a threat to both his crown as king, and Jonathan's ability so succeed him as the future king. In fact, Saul openly told Jonathan that David needed to be killed if he wanted to be the 2nd King of Israel.

But Jonathan deeply loved David. And David reciprocated that friendship. They wouldn't (couldn't) harm each other. Ever. Theirs was a deep friendship, grounded in love, cemented by their mutual faith in God.

Good friends are worth their weight in gold. Cultivate them. Invest in them. Allow yourself to be truly known by at least one other human being. Deeply. And open yourself to get to know at last one other person, too. Deeply. If you don't have one of these deep friendships (and we men are notorious at keeping our distances), start working on one. They are truly gifts from God.