Daily EncouragementSample

These are the words of Jonathan’s armour-bearer. The plan in mind, a bold one indeed, was not his but his master’s. Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf” (1 Sam. 14:6). All the armour-bearer did was to encourage him and to pledge his wholehearted involvement.

The same principle applies to spiritual warfare. Armour-bearers are not Jonathans, nor are Timothys Pauls. It is the Jonathans and the Pauls who are given the visions and who initiate bold and far-reaching enterprises. Armour-bearers and the like are privileged to follow behind. “After Paul had seen the vision,” writes Luke, “we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:10).

However, it is clear that the Jonathans need the encouragement of the armour-bearers. True, because Jonathan’s trust was in the Lord, he might have gone it alone. Nevertheless, think what the armour-bearer’s words meant to him and how good it was for him to know, as he climbed towards the enemy, that he was “right behind him.” It is not surprising that Paul frequently mentions his “armour-bearer”: “Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ . . . ” (Phil. 1:1).