Best Friends Forever

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"...I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me."             
- 2 Samuel 7:11-14a

I have two of these necklaces...well, really two halves of them. My BFF in middle school was Chrissy Holder, and then my BFF in high school was Jenny Griffith. I write "was" because we no longer talk. I can't even find Jenny on social media. The weird thing is, I couldn't tell you what happened to our friendships. We just drifted apart. With Chrissy, I did something behind her back that hurt her feelings, and although I apologized, we were no longer "best friends forever." 

When I read the word "forever" in 2 Samuel 7 - and there are THREE "forevers" written - I tend to read past them quickly and don't take the time to process what "forever" means when it's a word spoken by God. In our lives we are quick to use the word, and with good intentions. At the time, I honestly thought Chrissy would be my friend forever. And, then I got a new BFF...and I thought we'd be friends forever. 

The truth is, forever is a long time and our little brains have difficulty imaging what forever looks like when we make these promises. Forever is a long time! And, God knows exactly how long forever is. In these verses, God tells David that God will take care of him forever, even longer than David's own life. God says "forever" and this is a promise to all of us that God will never take away God's faithfulness - EVER! 

God's promise to love us is forever - eternally so, even when we are unfaithful. God is faithful to us even when we say something bad behind God's back. It's a deeper promise than any promise we could make to another human being. The next time you read "forever" in the Bible, think about God's promise to us, and then circle the word so it stands out to you each time you flip open your Bible to those words.

To Read More: 
Matthew 11:28-30
Deuteronomy 7:9
2 Timothy 2:13

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