Reading: 1 Samuel chapter 18 verses 1-20; chapter 19 verses 1-5; chapter 20 verse 4

Jonathan was the son of Saul, Israel’s first king. David described Jonathan’s love for him as ‘wonderful, passing the love of women’, 2 Samuel chapter 1 verse 26. This love grew deeper as time went by and challenges us as to our love for the Lord Jesus.

It was David’s victory, in the valley, over the giant Philistine, Goliath, that first attracted Jonathan to him. He knew that, without it, he and all the people would be as dead and defeated men. Put simply, he loved David for what he had done, even though he knew very little about him at this early stage. This is where love for the Lord Jesus begins. At the age of 15, I knew very little about Him, but I knew that what He did for me on the cross at Calvary gave me peace with God, forgiveness of sins and the prospect of an eternal home in heaven. At that time, I loved Him, ‘because He first loved’ me, 1 John chapter 4 verse 19.

By the time we reach 1 Samuel chapter 19, Jonathan’s love has developed. We read, ‘But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David’, 1 Samuel chapter 19 verse 1. He had got to know more about David and he loved him now as a person, not only for what he had done. It gave him the courage to speak well of him, even in the face of the extreme hostility of his rebellious father. Has our love for the Lord Jesus developed to the point where we are able to speak well of Him in the face of a hostile world?

Ultimately, Jonathan’s love for David reached the point, where he could say confidently to him: ‘Whatsoever you yourself desire, I will do it for you’, 1 Samuel chapter 20 verse 4. Are you and I able and willing to say the same to the Lord Jesus?