Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 20
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 20:3b & 20:17
But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death…And Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
When death stares us in the face, we tend to focus our minds on the most important issues of life. Loving one another becomes a top priority. Jonathan and David understood this. Their affection was demonstrated in commitment, in keeping their promises and in their willingness to sacrifice their own lives for each other if necessary. Jonathan, although he was heir to the throne, was willing to give up his own rights because of love for David. The story of David and Jonathan provide a picture of Jesus. Jesus, in fulfilling His destiny, loved so much that He was willing to die. John 13 to 17 captures the dialogue between Jesus and His loved ones during the Passover meal. Jesus begins by washing their feet and ends with His prayer for them: “That the love with which You [the Father] loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” In these chapters the words love, loves, and loved are spoken by Jesus more than 20 times. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, may my heart be filled with Your love, and may that love be expressed in my love for others. Thank You! Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
In my prayer time I pray for family members by name, and I name before God others for whom I’m committed to pray. As a boy I remember at our family altar hearing my parents pray: “I pray for those for whom we should pray.” This would include people whose names we did not mention. I thought at the time that if we should pray for them, why not name them. Then I realized that it’s humanly impossible. However, “With God all things are possible.” There is a 24/7 family altar in Heaven where Jesus leads the prayers and in which we participate every time we pray. He knows every one of us by name. He knows us better than we could ever know ourselves, and He prays for us by name. “Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
