I wish I had known Jonathan. Scripture does not tell us much about this man, but when I think of him, I envy the friendship he shared with David. We know from 1 Samuel 18:1 that Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.

Several months ago, a broken sprinkler head under high pressure sent muddy water spraying across the front of our home. The deep front porch took the brunt of the filth, with windows, shudders and our pretty red door dirtied. Though it was cleaned up promptly, it wasn’t until this week that I noticed the porch lights that flank our doorway. Stepping out one evening, I wondered why the light was so muted, and noticed that the glass in the lamps was dingy and smeared with the muck.

I am so thankful that God called Jeremiah and not me to be His voice to His people. Jeremiah, at God’s behest, preached gloom and doom to the people of Israel and Judah because of their sin and rebellion.

“But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols”, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 2:11). How could they? God had done so much for them. He had showed Himself Great and Glorious in their presence. He had been faithful, patient, loving. Yet His people had embraced idolatry of every form. Just a few verses later, God says, “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). His beloved was looking elsewhere for satisfaction and sustenance and didn’t even realize that the hunt was futile. What a sad commentary on God’s chosen ones.