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What a tragic day it was for Mephibosheth.  He was five years old when his nurse dropped him as she fled in terror upon learning that King Saul and Jonathan had been slain in battle (2 Samuel 4:4). His grandfather and father were dead, and he was sent to live in exile, away from the likely death he would face from the new King. He would not be the same after being dropped and would live as a lame and shameful remnant of the former King. 

The story of Mephibosheth gives a beautiful illustration of exactly why David was known for being a man after God’s own heart. After being firmly established as the King of Israel, David invites the disabled grandson of the man who had tried to kill David into his household and offers him a permanent seat at the King’s table. This is an incredible display of God’s love, compassion, and redemption. Mephibosheth is brought out of hiding, out of shame and fear, and is invited back into the Royal Family! 

Like Mephibosheth, God offers us the same invitation through Christ, the “son of David.” Paul writes in Ephesians 2:12-13:

“remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.”

God continues to write His story of redemption and calls us as His followers to be messengers of the invitation. He calls the poor, the lame, the crippled, and the blind (Luke 14), the lost, the broken, and those far from Him. The King is calling. There is an open seat at His Table. 

Reflection: How are you allowing God to use you as a messenger of God’s invitation to those around you – at work, in your neighborhoods, or at school?

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