OUR DAILY BREAD : WHERE CAN WE LEAN?

[cimi]

TUESDAY MAY 12


WHERE CAN WE LEAN?

READ:
2 Samuel 9:7
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I will surely show
you kindness for
Jonathan your
father's sake.
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What a wonderful funeral!" Cindy remarked as we walked out. Helen, our friend, had died. And friend after friend celebrated her by sharing stories of her all-around fun behavior. But Helen's life wasn't all jokes and laughter. Her nephew spoke of her faith in Jesus and her care for others. She had taken him into her home when he was young and struggling. Now in his twenties, he said of his Aunt Helen, "She was like a mother to me. She never gave up on me in my struggles. I am sure that if it wasn't for her, I would have lost my faith." Wow! What an influence! Helen leaned on Jesus and wanted her nephew to trust Him too.

In the Old Testament, we read that King David took a young man named Mephibosheth into his home with the purpose of showing him kindness for the sake of his father, Jonathan (David's friend who had died; SEE 2 Sam. (:1). Years earlier, Mephibosheth had been injured when his nurse dropped him as they fled after the news that his father had been killed (4:4). He was surprised that the king would care for him; he even referred to himself as "a dead dog" (9:8). Yet the king treated him as his own son (9:11).

I'd like to be that kind of person, wouldn't you? Someone who cares for others and helps them hang on to faith in Jesus even when life looks hopeless.

**Lord, You showed the ultimate kindness by rescuing us when we were
helpless in our sins. May our lives be marked by kindness so that others will
see You in us. ___________________________________________________________________________________
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God does most of His work for people through people.

********************************Today's Bible Reading __ 2 Samuel 9***********************************
1 Now David said, "Is there still anyone who is left of
the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for
Jonathan's sake?"

2 And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose
name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the
king said to him, "Are you Ziba?"...

3 Then the king said, "Is there not still someone of the house
of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?" And Ziba
said to the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame
in his feet"....

6 Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of
Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face.... 7 So David said
to him, "Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for
Jonathan your father's sake...."

8 Then he bowed himself, and said, "What is your servant,
that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?"

9 And the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him,
"I have given to your master's son all that belonged to Saul
and to all his house. 10 You therefore, and your sons and your
servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in
the harvest....But Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat
bread at my table always." ...

11 Then Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my lord
the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do"....

11 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at
the king's table. And he was lame in both his feet.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, could have been
heir to his grandfather's (King Saul) throne and a potential threat
to David's kingship. But David promised his best friend, Jonathan
(1 SAM 20:42), that he would care for his family. In today's passage we
read how David made good on that promise (2 SAM 99:13).