1 Samuel 26-31: The Value of True Christian Friends
By Allan Bosson
This week’s reading is found in the last portion of I Samuel into the beginning of II Samuel. These passages contain some of the finest teaching in God’s Word on the value of true, faithful Christian friends.
We see clearly in the life of David how enormously beneficial to him were the lives of his family and his good, faithful friends. Like David, each of us must surround ourselves with godly teachers and friends, if we want to have a truly meaningful and spiritually productive life. No one comes into this world with great, overwhelming knowledge. The knowledge we need to succeed in life comes from others.
The Bible makes it clear, much of life is a choice. If you make good choices you will have good experiences. Equally so, if you make bad choices you will have bad experiences. But the key is, on what basis do you make your choices? What or who is the governing factor in the choices you make? The basis of a person’s decision making, of course, comes from the teaching and advice each of us has received in the past. Hence, hopefully, we recognize the extreme importance of sound teachers of character and good, godly friends to help us carry out good, sound advice.
In David’s case, he came from a simple, humble God-fearing family, who had its roots in the Temple and the teaching of the Word of God. It was also a family that respected authority and God’s plans of leadership, even when the leadership was questionable. It was a family, in most cases, that had close, personal relationships with each other. By the time David was promoted to serving in King Saul’s house, clearly he had been making good choices because he had a deep commitment to the Lord.
Although King Saul treated David very unfairly and threatened his life, the teaching in David’s past kept him, in most cases, from making bad, foolish choices. Without the consistent godly teaching in his life, David could have killed King Saul and thereby destroyed his opportunity of ever becoming the King of Judah. Along with this, David had the help of great friends like Ahimelech, Abishai and Jonathan, Saul’s son, who stood with David in the toughest moments of his life, supporting him and giving him sound, godly advice.
Without a doubt, two of the most valuable assets to a successful Christian life are sound, godly teaching and good, faithful Christian friends. Choose wisely.
1 Samuel 26-31: The Value of True Christian Friends
By Allan Bosson
This week’s reading is found in the last portion of I Samuel into the beginning of II Samuel. These passages contain some of the finest teaching in God’s Word on the value of true, faithful Christian friends.
We see clearly in the life of David how enormously beneficial to him were the lives of his family and his good, faithful friends. Like David, each of us must surround ourselves with godly teachers and friends, if we want to have a truly meaningful and spiritually productive life. No one comes into this world with great, overwhelming knowledge. The knowledge we need to succeed in life comes from others.
The Bible makes it clear, much of life is a choice. If you make good choices you will have good experiences. Equally so, if you make bad choices you will have bad experiences. But the key is, on what basis do you make your choices? What or who is the governing factor in the choices you make? The basis of a person’s decision making, of course, comes from the teaching and advice each of us has received in the past. Hence, hopefully, we recognize the extreme importance of sound teachers of character and good, godly friends to help us carry out good, sound advice.
In David’s case, he came from a simple, humble God-fearing family, who had its roots in the Temple and the teaching of the Word of God. It was also a family that respected authority and God’s plans of leadership, even when the leadership was questionable. It was a family, in most cases, that had close, personal relationships with each other. By the time David was promoted to serving in King Saul’s house, clearly he had been making good choices because he had a deep commitment to the Lord.
Although King Saul treated David very unfairly and threatened his life, the teaching in David’s past kept him, in most cases, from making bad, foolish choices. Without the consistent godly teaching in his life, David could have killed King Saul and thereby destroyed his opportunity of ever becoming the King of Judah. Along with this, David had the help of great friends like Ahimelech, Abishai and Jonathan, Saul’s son, who stood with David in the toughest moments of his life, supporting him and giving him sound, godly advice.
Without a doubt, two of the most valuable assets to a successful Christian life are sound, godly teaching and good, faithful Christian friends. Choose wisely.