One great currency which will open doors for you and your generations long after you have lived, died, and gone, is ‘Relationship and Friendship’.
“… but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24
Relationships and friendship are age-long currencies that if properly groomed and preserved can never be outspent.
They open doors for you and bring you opportunities that money cannot buy.
Where money fails, one thing that can never fail is a genuine relationship and friendship, born out of deep love and bonding between two or more people.
One person who enjoyed the dividends of relationship and friendship, and was exempted from the death that killed his uncles and Cousins, is Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan.
Mephibosheth is the son of Jonathan, the first son of King Saul who was the first king of Israel. All things being equal, Jonathan would have taken over the throne from his father King Saul as his heir apparent and first son. But because his father failed to obey instructions given to him by the LORD God through His servant Samuel, the LORD tore the kingdom and access to the throne of Israel from him and gave it to another, David. Jonathan due to no fault of his, died on the same day as his father King Saul.
Before his death, Jonathan entered into friendship and took an Oath with David the anointed of the LORD, knowing full well that he would occupy the position of kingship meant for him to the utter chagrin of his father King Saul who could not understand why Jonathan will choose to be friends with David, despite all he knows.
It would appear that Jonathan saw the future and was adamant to groom his relationship and friendship with David, to the point of helping him escape from being killed while he was haunted by king Saul.
“…and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD call David’s enemies to account.”
And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him because he loved him as he loved himself. 1Samuel 20:15-17
On his ascension to the throne of Israel, One day King David asked;
“Is there anyone in Saul’s family still
alive -anyone to whom I can show kindness
for Jonathan’s sake?’
The king summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba? ” the king asked.
Yes, Sir, I am Ziba replied.
” Is there anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show God’s kindness to them .”
Ziba replied, ” Yes, one of Jonathan’s sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet .”
” Where is he the king asked. In Lo-debar,” Ziba told him, “at the home of Makir son of Ammiel.”
David sent for him and brought him from Makir’s home. His name was Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson. When he came to David, he bowed low to the ground in deep respect. David said, Greetings Mephibosheth.”
“I am your servant ” he replied.
“Don’t be afraid!” David said. ” I intend to show kindness to you because I promise your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the King’s table!”
Because of relationship and friendship, Mephibosheth the crippled son of Jonathan recovered all his family’s wealth, lands, and properties which King David had every right to confiscate and take over as his own, as the new King and also how King Saul treated and haunted him from place to place, cave to cave and at a point, he was forced to leave the land of Israel with his family and go into hiding. The currency of relationship and friendship brought about total restoration to Mephibosheth and equally gave him unhindered access to dining and wine at the table of the King.
Relationships and friendship will give you protection and shelter when money fails because money sometimes fails to settle some matters. In such matters, it takes blood and life to settle it. Where such is the case, it’s friendship and relationships that will protect and shield you and your family.
A perfect example in the Scripture can be seen in 2 Samuel 21: 1-9
There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted for three years, so David asked the LORD about it. And the LORD said,
” The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.”
The king summoned the Gibeonites.
The Gibeonites were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites. The people of Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to wipe them out.
David asked them, “What can I do for you?
How can I make amends so that you will bless the LORD’s people?”
“Well money can’t settle this matter between us and the family of Saul,” the Gibeonites replied. Neither can we demand the life 0f anyone in Israel.”
“What can I do then? ” David asked. Just tell me and I will do it for you.
Then they replied, ” It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel. So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the LORD at Gibeon, on the mount of the LORD.”
“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.”
King David spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, because of the Oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the LORD. But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah daughter of Aiah. He also gave them 5 sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah.
The men of Gibeon executed them on the Mountain of the LORD before the LORD. All seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Money Can Fail
Beloved it is said, “Money answereth all things.” Ecclesiastes 10:19 But from the story in the Scripture shared above, we see that there are times and circumstances that money will not answer to. Where this is the case, relationships, and friendship are the next currency to fall back on.
Mephibosheth just like his cousins and uncles, was supposed to be executed by the Gibeonites on the mount of the LORD to pacify them for the sin of their grandfather Saul. However, because of the Oath of relationship and friendship between his father Jonathan, and king David, he was spared.
His father’s sister Merab had five (5) of her sons executed but he was spared, not because of money, or good reports about him, but because of ‘Friendship and relationship.”
Answer the following questions sincerely beloved,
📌 What relationship and friendship alliance are you forming and building today, which your children and generations unborn can leverage tomorrow?
📌 Are you building bridges of intentional covenant relationships and friendships or are you burning them?
📌 If you are to die today, is there any man or woman on the earth’s surface who will show kindness to your offspring for your sake?
📌 What actions are you taking today, like king Saul in his days, that will lead to the execution and spilling of the blood of your sons and daughters tomorrow, to pacify the aggrieved?
The Universe is governed by Laws, Principles, and, Keys.
“You cannot break principles and claim promises.”
Whatsoever a man sows, he reaps.
Jonathan sowed good a covenant relationship and friendship and his son Mephibosheth reaped it abundantly.
What will your offspring reap from you now, and after you are dead and buried?
I leave you to decide.
God Bless You
