1 Samuel 20:17 “And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.”

Three times in the Bible we are told that Jonathan loved David as he loved his own soul “for he loved him as he loved his own soul”.

A very specific detail! … one which that could be read past many times without any pause for consideration, I myself had never even registered this detail until this week! …Yet in it, the flower of the majesty of the gospel of Christ marvellously unfurls before our eyes!

… Many times particularly in Proverbs, but throughout the Bible, we are told that the decisions we make in life affect our own souls one way or the other. Our decisions in life can either love our own soul, or despise and destroy our own soul!

… so a bit at stake then!

Have you ever thought about how your decisions in life are affecting your own soul?

Do you actually love your own soul? …Most people don’t actually love their own soul. Self interest and selfishness can easily be mistaken for self love… but often our decisions are only further harming, afflicting and tormenting our own souls.

This world is pretty full of this case!

In this discussion we mainly consider two characters called Jonathan and David… but Saul was a guy who made decisions which really hurt his own soul a lot… because he disobeyed God he brought much unrest and spiritual issues upon himself, and he projected these massively onto others, particularly David. He spent much time trying to kill David, not because David had done him wrong, but because his own soul was tormented.

Like it was with him… in life it is easy and common to blame everything and everyone ourselves for our problems, while never truly registering that the biggest enemy we have in life is ourselves! … And our problems aren’t someone else, but our decisions and choices we make that are not loving our own soul, nevermind not loving others!

For remedial action, the example of Jonathan choosing David over Saul in 1 Samuel 17 to 20 will teach us indepth how we can truly love our own soul! Because Jonathan did not emulate his father Saul.

… For the sake of word count, the summary of Jonathan’s example is this: you can only truly love your soul if you choose and obey God’s word in your life. You cannot truly love your own soul if you do not obey Christ as Saviour and Lord of your life.

Naturally, you may have other ideas about that, because you’ve got a better way and superior philosophy right!? but in anticipation and expectation of this being the case, the Bible already says “He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.”

And… “But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”

Pretty strong stuff, but you can see that the love for our own soul is directly proportional to obedience to God’s commandments. I know we are averse to the word “obedience” in modern Christianity, but salvation itself is an act of obedience, nevermind everything that follows!

And so I hope you know the story of David and Jonathan because it is so helpful in grasping what the Bible teaches about love! …But if you don’t, to crudely summarize, Jonathan was the son of Israel’s first king… Saul. But Saul did not have a love for God that produced obedience to God in heart or detail… yeah, this kind of love.

The Bible says Saul even loved David “greatly” at the start, but that didn’t last long! And so love outside of God is very tenuous and subject to change. How many people started this year with an “I love you” to one person which will be hatred by December!

But anyway, God rejected Saul and chose another king for Israel, (God can choose someone else!) and it was a boy named David, someone who had a heart after God’s own heart. And this future king of Israel was the boy who slew Goliath, who’s exploits of faith in God in saving Israel impressed Jonathan so much that Jonathan placed his life in David’s hands through an everlasting covenant.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ came of the seed of David, and so David points us to very Christ (as he himself had faith in), and we know that Jonathan’s decision in committing his trust, allegiance, loyalty and life to David in these chapters was the best decision he ever made… a decision that truly loved his own soul.

This was no small decision! … because he chose David over his own father, and even over himself, because he we next in line to be king theoretically! And also, his covenant with David came at a time where David was becoming very unpopular, and so aligning with him was not the “smart” strategical move perhaps.

And yet it was! … and boy this decision paid off, and it even saved his own son’s life way down the line. What we do with Christ will affect our descendants make no mistake. And if you make the decision to choose Christ over and above all else… you can be sure that time will smile upon actions you take to this end.

It was when Jonathan heard David speak to Saul that Jonathan first loved David as he loved his own soul, and now you’ve heard the gospel, you have a decision also …How much you love yourself, not just others, entirely hinges on what you do with the man called Christ and his demands of you in scripture.

Choosing Christ, obeying his word, is the decision that loves your own soul! If you get this wisdom, well the Bible still says “He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.”

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