PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( 1 Samuel 14:1 ): Right off the bat You’re convicting me, Father. In this first verse, Saul’s son, Jonathan, starts to do things without his father’s permission and without even telling him what he was doing. Although I know in my heart that You know everything, I have often done things in this life without consulting You first. I have even done things in this life at times in hopes that You were not looking in that moment in hopes that I could “get away” with it in a sense I suppose. This is not the relationship You’ve called me to with You. I already know You are all knowing and all seeing. I need to get better at going to You for and through ALL things in this life. Please forgive me for this, Father.
PROMISE ( 1 Samuel 14:37 ): I find that sometimes the strongest thing You can say or do for us is nothing at all. Saul reached out to You for wisdom and discernment on whether or not Your people should go after the Philistines and whether or not You would hand them over to Israel. You gave no response to him that day. I feel that Your promise to him that day was that You would not do for him anything he asked until he first delt with the tension and issues between him, his son, and the people You appointed him as king over. He had to first go through an earthly trial and face it head-on before You would give him a response to his questions. Thank You, Father, for sometimes staying silent when we need it.
ATTITUDE ( 1 Samuel 14:43 ): Saul’s son, Jonathan, embraced an attitude of unashamed honesty in this moment. Although he probably could have confessed sooner to his actions, albeit not necessarily wrong in the moment, he still did his confession without trying to cover anything up or change the story. He was honest about what he did even though his father, Saul, JUST said that even if it’s his own son who sinned against God that he too would die. He essentially was facing death but had no issues with revealing the truth in this moment when asked. My prayer to You is that I do a better job in my life at truly embracing this attitude of unashamed honesty.
COMMAND ( 1 Samuel 14:43 ): I see Your command today in this verse, although I also see other commands throughout today’s scripture. This verse, however, is resonating with my soul so I think this is my focus today. I feel the command You are speaking to me today is to ensure that no matter the situation, no matter who I am speaking with, that I must always remember to maintain Your truth in my words, but also to maintain an attitude of unashamed honesty throughout my life. Help me to be better at this, Father.
EXAMPLE ( 1 Samuel 14:45-46 ): I find the example Your people give here to be an amazing one. Saul is essentially damning his own son, Jonathan, to death for his betrayal. Your people, however, stood-up for Jonathan against their king, Saul, because they felt it was the right thing to do in Your eyes. They felt that Jonathan should not be harmed because You were with him throughout all that he had done, so what he had done must have been God-sanctioned. The reason I am journaling about this is because I feel that oftentimes I do not speak up to certain people about something I feel was wrong that they said or did solely because of their position or title. For example, I have not approached my pastor many times in situations where I felt he said or did something that wasn’t approved by You. I need to be better at speaking Your truth when convicted no matter who I am speaking it to.
*DAILY NOTE: Thank You for today’s amazing quiet time, Father. The story of Saul and Jonathan is an interesting one which I see many great examples to learn from sprinkled throughout. I am grateful for the relationship between them that You are showing me, but also the relationship between Your people and them. I look forward to continuing in the telling of their testimony to learn more from You. Thank you!
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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