Word Play: Account Ability - Thursday
1 Samuel 20:4
“Tell me what I can do to help you,” Jonathan exclaimed. (NLT)
During the summers, my buddies and I love going to Lake Cumberland. A few summers ago, it had rained the week prior to us going down to the lake, and there were beautiful waterfalls cascading down in several different coves. We saw a new one that we hadn’t found before and decided to go check it out. About seven or eight feet above the waterline, there was a thin ledge that you could potentially walk across in order to get to a rock you could jump off of, but it was clearly not the safest thing to do. My two buddies, both named Blake, decide they’re going to shimmy across the ledge while I’m loudly requesting that they get down so they don’t get hurt. Blake #1 gets across just fine and jumps in. But Blake #2 hits a slick spot, slides off the ledge, and comes crashing down on a ledge right above the water level.
THUD! Blake #2 rolls off the ledge into the water in what felt like slow motion. I literally thought he’d died. Thankfully, he bobbed up to the surface and was conscious, but he was completely jarred by the fall. We slowly pull him over to the ladder of the boat, and he says, “Chap… I’m going to need your help getting in the boat.” Blake #2 ended up breaking his ankle that day, and we actually caught the fall on camera! There’s hardly a time we hangout that we don’t laugh and reminisce about that scary fall at the lake.
In 1 Samuel, we see one of the most detailed friendships in the Bible—Jonathan and David’s. What I want to highlight today is Jonathan’s heart and willingness to put himself in harm’s way for his friend. David was under attack, and Jonathan put his life on the line when he asked David how he could help. Jonathan threw David a life vest that day. We have a Savior that threw us a life vest while we were drowning in our mess and sin. Jesus grabbed us by the life vest and pulled us in the boat to safety. He then entrusted us with the responsibility to help others get to safety in the boat. He has called us to lay down our lives and serve others.
Thursday’s Reflection
Who has God placed in your life that you can serve? How can we serve our friends like Jesus has served us? Maybe you can ask this simple question to someone today: “How can I help you?”