2 Samuel 9:13 (NIV) And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

Most people have motives for what they do. It’s not unusual for someone to help someone that they feel could in turn help them with something down the road. The old saying is, “I’ll wash your back if you wash my back.” In other words, I’ll do something for you if you do something for me. Even though people may not be outwardly thinking that, it’s usually in the back of their minds. When it comes to the story behind the verse above, however, it was not that at all.

After having to run for his life from King Saul who was out to kill him, David became king in Judah and Jerusalem after Saul and his sons died in battle. Seven and a half years later, the ten northern tribes made him their king as well, making him king of the entire land. After some early battles against the enemies of Israel, there was a time of peace. David became successful and his kingdom was firmly established. Instead of kicking back and enjoying this prosperous season in his life, David got it in his mind to do something to show kindness to the “house of Saul.” He did it because he and Saul’s son, Jonathan, were very close friends and he wanted to honor his memory. He investigated and found out that there was a man by the name of Mephibosheth who was Jonathan’s son. He was living in a ghetto of Israel called Lo-Debar. The Bible takes care to mention the fact that Mephibosheth was lame in both feet. As a matter of fact, it mentions it a couple of times just in case you missed it the first time. To take someone into your care who is lame is not an easy task. You have to make special arrangements every time that person has to go somewhere or be somewhere and the verse above tells us that he always ate at the king’s table. Arrangements had to be made and special care had to be taken of Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. But that didn’t bother David at all. He did it just because. He had no other motive but to show kindness. No wonder he is called a man after God’s own heart.

This story is a picture of God’s love for us. We once lived in the ghetto of darkness when we didn’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives. We were all sinners before the Lord revealed Himself to us. We had no claim to anything, and we weren’t deserving of anything. We were spiritually worse off than being lame in both feet. The Bible tells us that we were dead in our transgressions. But God, for no other reason than to show us His love and His kindness, opened our eyes and drew us to Himself. He did it just because. He did it just because He is God and because He is love, and He poured out that love on us while providing a cleansing for us from the filthiness of our ghetto of darkness through the blood of Jesus. There was no other motive for God to do that other than the fact that He is kind, compassionate, and so full of grace that He lavishes it on us (Ephesians 1:7-8). And if that weren’t enough, we now get to always eat at the King’s table. We get to eat there, even while being spiritually lame in both feet and then some. That should be a good reason for you to thank God for the rest of this day and beyond! Let’s not ever stop thanking the Lord for what He has done for us.

Pastor Joey Vazquez