A Christmas Story Twist-Application: Part 2

(I will be referring to the Scripture in 

Part 1 throughout this entry.)

I ended Part 1 of my last entry with a question.  My question is concerning King David & Mephibosheth found in 2 Samuel 9.  Why did God begin the chapter in verse 3 & end with verse 13c-And Mephibosheth …; he was lame in both feet?  Again, I find this interesting.  Why did God want this to be the last thing to be itched in our minds?  Why not leave it on a perfectly good note or portion of scripture in verse13a & b- And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table;….  This would have kept us at the fairy-tale ending, “And everyone lived happily ever after.”

One reason I think God chose not the fairy-tale ending was it was not a real life situation.  We live in a sinful, fallen world, with disappointments, & struggles.   Life is hard, & not fair.  God never intended for our lives to be this way, but He knew from the beginning of time that Adam & Eve would choose to sin.  So, “where one man brought sin into this world, many are now sinners”, well….

A second reason that comes to my mind is I need a reminder that I am a sinner.  I am spiritually crippled in two feet.  If Mehpibosheth was crippled in only one foot or an arm, he could probably easily compensate.  I easily compensate with my easy way-outs sometimes.  I start to trust in myself, & lean on my own understanding.  Mehpibosheth & King David had a three day physical reminder, because Mehpibosheth ate at the king’s table the rest of his days.

Because of how Mephibosheth’s disability happen, he lived in hiding for fear of being killed.  King David didn’t have a clue Mephibosheth existed until he inquired.  We see this in 2 Samuel 9:1-King David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of King Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”  Jonathan was King Saul’s son who David loved dearly with a brotherly love.  Jonathan had made a covenant with David, & David wanted to not only honor Jonathan, but their covenant.  This question was total GRACE!  David didn’t owe this to Jonathan, & David especially didn’t owe anything to King Saul, who hated him!   This is something he desired to do out of love.

After Mephibosheth came before David, David tells him not to fear.  David begins to bless him by giving back all King Saul’s property, gives Mephibosheth King Saul’s servant & his servant’s family to take care of his property.  David ends with the biggest blessing of all, wanting relationship with Mephibosheth by feasting at his table at every meal-crippled feet & all!!!  Mephibosheth was treated as one of David’s sons.  WOW!!!

A third reason might be, when you have crippled feet, you can’t really go anywhere by yourself.  You are not independent.  You are needy if you like it or not!  You might have to stay planted a while until someone else moves you. 

Fourthly, maybe because of his disability, Mephibosheth thought of himself as a dog as we see in verse 8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

It’s time to see God’s grace:

In paragraph reason one, I ended with “where one man (Adam) brought sin into the world, many are now sinners….”; the rest of this sentence is “so by one Man’s (Jesus’) obedience, many will be righteous (be saved).”  We don’t need a fairy-tale ending, because we have hope, & can have a changed life in Jesus.  

Just like Mephibosheth, there is nothing I can do to be accepted more, or loved more by the Father.  Jesus has done it all for me.  I don’t need to compensate.  Because of Jesus, I don’t have to fear, I can come boldly to the Father’s throne of GRACE!  

The Father desires & waits for me to come to His banqueting table & rest, without a care in the world because I am casting all my cares on Him; be refreshed, nourished, & enjoy His fellowship-cripple feet & all!!  The Father would love for me to choose to plant myself, & need only Him.   

The HUGE difference between me/the Father, & David/Mephibosheth is the Father doesn’t even see my crippled feet.  What GRACE!!!  Why you might ask?  Again, it is because of Jesus covering my sinful crippled feet with His blood, & the Father sees Jesus.  I am free from the Father’s wrath once & for all, because the work of the cross was finished once & for all.  Because of the cross, I don’t have to work for my salvation & I don’t have to work for my sanctification, (making me more like Jesus everyday)!  Where Mephibosheth believed his worth was equal to a dog, the Father sees me as His dearly beloved child, His princess. 

Finally, the Christmas Twist:

With all this said, you might ask, “Where does Christmas come into this story?”  Without the grace of the manger, I would still be in my crippled state.  Jesus had to leave His throne room of glory, to come to earth, humbly as a newborn baby, born of a virgin.  He lived a perfect life, taking my punishment on the cross.  Then, after three days He arose from the grave, & is now seated down at the right hand of the Father.  

Jesus tells us in Mt 19:14-“Let the little children come to Me, & do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  

I have three grand daughters; Audrey-2 1/2, Haven-4 1/2, & Lauren-6 1/2.  I love each one dearly.  Each one are at different stages in their lives & each one has different personalities.  When I see each of them, they run up and give me a great big hug.  Lauren stays in my arms a few seconds.  Haven stays about 1-2 min.  But Audrey, if Mama or Daddy aren’t around, those little arms are constantly going up, & she is glued to my hip.  Naturally, I will never turn her away from reaching down, picking her up, & loving on her.  I desire to hold her, no matter how heavy she might get.  On my hip or not, we go everywhere together having fellowship.

God the Father desires this same thing.  He desires for me to reach up to Him, to stay glued to, or to rest on His hip-“so to speak.”  To spend moment by moment going everywhere with Him & having fellowship.

Please, don’t miss going to the manger this Christmas, 

crippled feet & all!

Merry Christmas!

ann :)

A Christmas Story Twist-Historical: Part 1

Before I begin this entry, 

I am going to let you know that this will be a deep, 

spiritual, thought provoking one; not light-hearted!

    This Fall Semester I have been involved with a Bible Study called LOVED -Learning to Rest by Clara Jones, who is one of our pastors wives.  This study is all about learning to rest in the Father’s love through Jesus.  It has been a powerful study!  The lecture/teaching from Clara last week was on resting or abiding in Jesus.  Part of our homework assignment was studying Mephibosheth.

I have always enjoyed the story of Mephibosheth.  In fact, when I directed children’s choirs way back when, one of our Christmas Programs was called, “No Phibbin, Mephibosheth.”  I certainly didn’t receive these thoughts years ago.

You might not be familiar with Mephibosheth.  In fact, you might not can even pronounce his name :)  I think it is worth our time to review & refresh our memories before diving into the meat of this entry.

King Saul was the first king of Israel.  During his reign, he & the Israelites were at war with Goliath, the nine foot Giant, & the Philistines. David, a young boy, came on this scene when his father sent him to check on his brothers who were fighting in the war.   Secretly, David was already anointed by God to be the next king over Israel.  After David killed Goliath, David’s new job was to help sooth King Saul by playing his harp. 

     Jonathan was one of the sons of King Saul.  If I have my facts straight, he was suppose to be next in line to be king.  Somehow, Jonathan knew God’s plan that he would not be Israel’s second king, but David would be.  Through the years, King Saul hated David & spent most of his reign trying to kill David.  Despite all this, Jonathan & David had a special bond of brotherly love between them.  Jonathan even made a covenant with David that would bond them forever.  Now to Mephibosheth.  His father was Jonathan, which makes King Saul his grandfather. 

In one days time, King Saul, Jonathan & other sons of King Saul, were killed in another battle.  Even though God already anointed David king, it needed to become a reality to the region of Judah.  In those days, when a king died, the new king, who was outside of the previous king’s family, usually would kill all of the previous king’s family!  Now, we are finally up to this passage.

2 Samuel 4:4

Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.

Which now takes us to this passage!

David and Mephibosheth-2 Samuel 9

1 King David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of King Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”  2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”  “At your service,” he replied.

3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”  Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”  4 “Where is he?” the king asked.  Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.  6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.  David said, “Mephibosheth!”  “At your service,” he replied.  7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”  8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)  11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.

12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

       God ends this chapter & story with verse 13-And Mephibosheth …; he was lame in both feet.  I find this interesting.  God also states his disability in verse 3.  Why did God begin & end this Chapter this way? 

The Christmas twist will come

in continuation Part 2…

ann :)