Knit to the Soul
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.—1 Samuel 18:1 (ESV)
I will not fail you or forsake you.—JOSHUA 1:5 [RSV]
In recent months my mother’s faith and hope had floundered as age stole her abilities. “What good am I?” she would often ask. I struggled to find answers that satisfied her.
Then one morning I found her sitting in her chair by the old triple windows lining the wall of her bedroom in the farmhouse we shared with her. She was leafing through the pages of her Bible.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“Last night I dreamed of a beautiful verse in the Bible, but now I can’t remember its words,” she said. “I was hoping I could find it.”
She was almost giddy with joy as she told me of her dream. The words of the verse had come in a radiance spilling down from the sky, filling the darkness of the backyard with light, she said.
She never did find the verse, but the peace of the dream persisted. The renewed lilt in her voice filled me with joy. I had been feeling responsible for sustaining her faith and peace of mind. Her story reassured me that I didn’t need to carry all the weight of this burden. God alone could supply all the hope and encouragement she needed.
Lord, remind me to trust you to meet others’ needs when all my efforts seem to fail.
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.—1 Samuel 18:1 (ESV)
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”—Galatians 5:14 (NIV)
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.—John 15:12 (ESV)