Missing

11 "Come," Jonathan said, "let's go out into the field." So they went there together.

 12 Then Jonathan said to David: "By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13 But if my father is inclined to harm you, may the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away safely. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father. 14 But show me unfailing kindness like that of the LORD as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth."

 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the LORD call David's enemies to account." 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

"What has God been trying to teach you this week?"

If you have ever been in my small group you know that is the first question I ask every week. I ask that because I think many of us just go through life without even thinking about God's presence and His activity in our life.

Well, yesterday a good friend asked me that. My response, "God is teaching me what it means to be devoted."

Here's why…I've taught on the devotion of the Acts 2 church; the "fellowship of the mat" (Mark 2 - 4 guys carrying the paralytic to Christ) and how devoted they were to each other; how God wants us connected to a body of believers called the church and the devotion we should have for God and other believers; all in the last week. I'm also blogging about the friendship of Jonathan and David and being reminded how short I have fallen in some of my covenant relationships with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I feel that devotion, whether it's to God and/or to His body is sorely lacking in the Christian community these days.

Who (or maybe what) are you devoted to?

The Bible says that if you don't love people, you can't love God. It's like trying to do algebra without knowing multiplication, you can't do it!

I know that in my own life I learned to love God more as I learned to love His people who loved Him.

And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he
loved him as he loved himself.

Is that one of the things that made David a man after God's own heart?