1 Samuel 14-17
Not a Chip Off the Old Block

Jonathan the son of King Saul comes into the pages of the Bible only for a brief while, but what we see of him is most impressive, especially when one considers his father. Saul's spiritual failure is first seen in chapter 13 when he failed to wait for the arrival of Samuel the prophet to bless that nation's expedition against the Philistines. As the rest of 1 Samuel will attest, it only got worse from there.

Jonathan, however, was much different. While his father failed to wait and trust in God in 1 Samuel 13, chapter 14 shows us that Jonathan lived with a very different attitude. While his father sat inactive, the restless youth longed for battle against the enemies of God and God's people, and sought to spy out a nearby encampment of the Philistines. "Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, 'Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few... If they say to us, Wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, Come up to us, then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us,'" (1 Samuel 14:6, 9-10). As a result of his faith, Jonathan killed 20 of Israel's enemies. Over the coming chapters, he will always show himself as one devoted to the LORD and those who serve Him, even if such devotion will not serve his own interest. Had Saul been like that, what a king he would have been!

Such a life can give great hope to those who didn't grow up in Christian homes, or those whose Christian parents were less than wholly devoted to the LORD. These Christians may sometimes get the unintentional impression that if one didn't grow up in a Christian home then things will be much harder in the Christian walk. While it is certainly true that there are great benefits to growing up in a Christian home and that we do our children a great service when we provide such an environment for them to develop, people can "come into the church" without a Christian background and still thrive spiritually. They often have a "freshness" about them that 2nd or later generation Christians may have lost.

What does it take to be a Jonathan? It's pretty simple-a love for the LORD. A love for the LORD helps one to move past the bad examples shown us in the past by parents of other loved ones. It helps one to put aside error when shown and hold to truth, regardless the consequences. That love will cause such Christians to gravitate toward those who will offer them a more positive influence and they will then seek to emulate those new, more positive examples.

So, if you were born to people who weren't icons of faith, don't let that slow you down. Just think of Jonathan's faith despite his father, and press on. Develop your own, true faith, and if you have children of your own, make sure you give to them something you weren't given yourself.