“And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.”
1 Sam. 23:17
Discussion
Jonathan was King Saul's son and natural heir to the throne of Israel, but David was the anointed next-in-line King of Israel. So, there was the natural order of things, and then there was the divine order. Jonathan knew he was next in line to be king, but he also knew that David had been chosen and anointed by God to be king. Jonathan had to make a choice between his personal ambitions and the will of God. Listen, for the sake of God's will, you may sometimes have to lay aside your personal ambitions. King Saul couldn't lay aside his personal ambitions for God's will. He plotted and devised strategies to kill David. He also resented Jonathan for submitting to God's will for David to be King. Read what Saul says to Jonathan; 1Sam.20.31; "For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die." This describes the two kinds of men we have on earth; the Saul kind, and the Jonathan kind. If you find yourself desperately pursuing personal ambitions, career, money, promotion, properties etc against what you know to be God's will, then know that you are a Saul kind of person.
Such people don't even mind harming other people as long as it helps them preserve their selfish desires. Just as Saul missed out on God's plan and lost everything, likewise, anyone who pursues personal desires against the will of God will miss out on God's plan and will be at risk of losing all at the end; Mark.8.36; "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" On the other hand, Jonathan was a foreshadow of the coming Christ who in the garden of Gethsemane chose the will of God above His own personal desire; Luke.22.42; "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." Jesus chose to do the Father's will and this resulted in the establishing of the kingdom of God in the earth. God's will and plan is always greater and better than our highest ambitions. We lose out when we are self-centred and gain all when we're God-centred. In everything you do today and forever, always choose to do God's will. Shalom Uvracha!
For today's meditation, read John 5:30 (AMP).