To be as Mephibosheth

Recently, in my quiet time I've been reading through 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. While reading 2 Samuel last week, a verse struck me that keeps reappearing in my mind, so I figured I'd make a blog out of it.

The verse was 2 Samuel 9:8. At this point in the book, David has become king of Israel and is looking for a member of the house of Saul to show the love of God because of all the kindness that family had shown him. When he asks his servants if there was no one left, because both Saul and his son Johnathan were killed, his servants tell him of a son of Johnathan named Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both of his feet, that was still living. So David summons him and gives him all of the land that was once owned by his grandfather Saul. When he is told all of this, Mephibosheth says something that just floors me.

2 Samuel 9:8--Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"

Wow. I mean, this guy is the grandson of the previous king of Israel, and has royal blood in his veins. If anyone should expect special treatment, it's him, right? But that's not how he saw it. He actually compared himself to a dead dog, completely disregarding his own heritage and any claims of significance or importance he might have had.

This verse was like a slap in the face when I read it. If the grandson of a king could have said that to another human, even though he is a king, then why in the world do so many Christians seem incapable of asking the same question before our God? In our culture, instead of realizing just how insignificant and unimportant we are on the grand scheme of things compared to God's glory, we act like He owes us something.

Really? We, the tiny, self-absorbed creations, are owed something by the Almighty God, the One who created all the heavens and the earth? What kind of sense does that make to you, because it makes no sense to me at all.

I am actually shamed by this verse, because it shows such a need in my life to have this same kind of humility all too often. It causes me to take a look at my own arrogance, and I am repulsed by it.

It shows me the need to just sit down and thank God for the things that I already have, and not to take those things for granted and just keep asking for more.

But this quality isn't just shown in myself. It's all over the human race. Most of us are missing that basic humility and the blatant obviousness of our own insignificance before the glory and holiness of God.

After reading this verse, I've started praying that I'm more like Mephibosheth. He truly understood how little he deserved in comparison to what he was being given, and I want that quality in my own life. I also pray that my family and friends start getting that quality, instead of just asking for more and more.

So ask yourself this: are you like the average American, simply expecting more because you've been taught to? Or are you like Mephibosheth, who understood the greatness of his gift and the fact that he was simply blessed and undeserving of it?