A Special Friendship

       I have a dear cousin who is just a day younger than I.  She’s a beautiful person with a sunny disposition.  When we were kids, we were best friends.  We planned our lives as adults including sharing an apartment when we stepped out into the world on our own as well as, the kinds of lives we would lead; even probably the kind of husbands we expected and number of children we would have!  Our friendship held for many years, despite the miles that were often between us.  We both grew up however, and sadly, grew apart.  I don’t know the reason, it just happened and honestly, this makes me sad.  But, I can look back on those memories and smile because it warms my heart. 

       As an adult, I have had many different friends and find often, that each is special in their own way.  It isn’t like when I was a child where I had one friend, my cousin, with whom I confided everything.  I now have many friends but find I share different heart information with different friends, although my closest friends, like most, are few in number.

       Jonathan and David had a very special friendship.  It must have been amazing to know they shared the common bond of love and friendship to the point of making a covenant not only between themselves, but also with God; and knowing the relationship would not change despite circumstances.  It makes me wonder if we consider God in our friendships.  Although my dearest friends are church family, I don’t think I’ve ever considered them in a “covenant with God,” although I regularly thank God for them.

       I guess the real question is how do we choose our friends?  What creates the bond of love and friendship?  Why is there such a connection with one friend on one level and a connection with another friend on another?   How much am I willing to give up for my friend?  Will my friendship hold under all circumstances?  My friendship with my cousin changed over the years.  We grew apart, in different directions.  Although I still hold her dear in my heart, we don’t have the relationship we once did. 

       Relationships take effort and if the effort is sluggish on either side, the relationship suffers.  God’s word says Jonathan and David were devoted to each other.  They knew the bond would hold no matter what they faced, because it included a covenant with God.  What an inspiring thought and beautiful picture this paints of what a friendship really is.

1 Samuel 23:16-18  And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. "Don't be afraid," he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this." The two of them made a covenant before the LORD.