Spiritual Housecleaning Our Circle of Friends

The world is filled with media circles. Facebook, Google, Pinterest, are just a few that grab our attention, passions, and time. But what about our immediate circles? Who in our immediate circle gets our time, attention, and message grabbing moments? Who gives wisdom, counsel, and advice?

This morning, as I was reading in 1 Chronicles, I came across an interesting passage. The passage unfolded describing the leaders of the tribes of Israel and then turned to describe a more personal area in King David’s life.

“Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a wise counselor to the king, a man of great insight, and a scribe.”

I’m sure David had many relatives, but this one stood out in scripture as being someone important in his life. Imagine the moments David sought counsel from his uncle. The two of them nestled in a quiet corner as David opened his heart to hear “great insight” gleaming from his uncle’s words. This was an extremely important note because so many family members vied for the throne and couldn’t be trusted. We need relatives like that in our circles.  We need to surround ourselves with godly counsel and those who give us insight beyond our own perceptions.

The scripture goes on to say, “Jehiel the Hacmonite was responsible to teach the king’s sons.” I found it interesting that the scripture didn’t say anything about the king’s daughters. What did Jehiel teach the boys – specifically? Was it to get them ready for the throne? Whatever Jeheil taught, his role was important enough to reference his name.

In today’s world, our circle of friends can end up being the very ones who teach our children – whether we want them to or not - good or bad. Who in our circles have influence over our children – by their words, actions, or thoughts?

And then we get to the one last verse that stood out for me. After mounds of scripture of what people did for King David, in his courts and life, suddenly we come to a profound verse. “Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend.” (1 Chron. 27:32-33 NLT)

Out of every word spoken, every person labeled, listed, and referenced, in the midst of all of that, we now see one important find – the king had a friend. How many people wanted to be the king’s friend solely because he was the king? Yet we find David did have one special friend significant enough for his name to be written down as such.

David's position brought him into contact with many people. Out of all the people who worked in the palace, out of everyone he came into contact with on a daily basis, and out of the entire Israelite tribe, it all came down to one important fact – there were a few specific people David surrounded himself with that impacted his life. We can spend our entire lives building our circles but in  the midst of our deepest despair, most difficult trials, tiring tribulations, loneliness, and unattractive suffering, who will be the last ones standing next to us we can call our true circle of friends?  Whose influences are good, whose counsel is wise, and whose hearts are devoted in truth and Godly character?

What will that circle look like?

Is it time to clean house?