“Amnon had a friend…”

2 Samuel 13.3

Be careful being around people who are your age, people who are your “peers”.  Even the secular world is beginning to understand this.  Social pressures from peers have caused a lot of harm for some.  But also, people have a real need for contact and interaction with a range of age groups.  God created families to initially meet this need in our life.  That’s why a godly home is so important!  It sets the foundation for our relationships, and while no family is perfect, God will still help us do the right thing… Not like Amnon…

“Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.”

This true story is one of the yuckiest stories in the Bible.  It shows how “dysfunctional” and criminal, life can become when people don’t actively seek God. 

This wickedness led to many more sad events and ruined lives.  Read it for yourself.  Consider the “friends” and the “advice”  and the “counsel” that continued to be bad for many years, for many people, not just this young man! (Read 2 Samuel chapters 13-19!)

“Amnon had a friend…”

As sad as these things are, thank God we can, and must, learn from them!

Who are the people we spend time with?  Who are our “friends”?  I love the words of a hymn we sing, it says, “Make friends of God’s children”.  Yes, amen!  Tell you family and friends how to be saved!  Make friends of godly people in a good church!  Make friends of godly people of a variety of age groups!  Make friends of godly people on different socioeconomic levels!  Make friends with godly people who have a variety of backgrounds!

DO. NOT. BE. LIKE. AMNON!