PASTOR’S CORNER, Pat Mann, President of Good Samaritan Auxiliary
All during the Christmas season, people look for great gifts, and after Christmas there are surely some great bargains to be found. I want to tell you about an Old Testament character who was offered a great bargain. His name was Mephibosheth. He was the grandson of King Saul, the son of Jonathan, young David’s close friend. Both Saul and Jonathan deceased. David ascends the throne of God’s people, the Israelites. Most of King Saul’s descendants, heirs to his throne, were slain in battle. The new King, David, went looking for any remaining descendants of King Saul. It would be expected that any remaining threat to the throne of a new king would be slain. David commanded that Mephibosheth be brought to him.
Mephibosheth, no doubt, expected the worst. What would you think if you were the only remaining heir to Saul’s throne, and now the new king, David, was looking for you? Instead of eliminating him, David brought Mephibosheth into his own family, a place at his own dining table with the king’s sons. He lived at the palace. The king restored to Mephibosheth all the land and wealth that belonged to Saul. David hired servants to farm his land, since Mephibosheth was handicapped, crippled in both feet. What a bargain it was for the young ex-prince. Surely no greater example of grace can be found in the Old Testament, given a place equal to the king’s own sons, when what he expected was to be slain.
You and I are Mephibosheth – guilty sinners deserving only to be forever slain in a lake of fire. The King, however, loves us (John 3:16). He comes looking for us: “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10). He comes not to condemn, but to offer us grace and forgiveness as well as a place in His own kingdom as one of His sons. The great Heavenly Father will adopt us into His own family when we accept the great bargain offered to us because of Jesus, who made it possible by His sacrifice on the cross. For those who believe, God will transform into the image of His own dear Son so that we can joyfully serve Him all the days of our lives. We will dine at His table, served by angels. He will give us eternal life in the most wonderful place, so great it cannot even be imagined. “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
This is the greatest bargain of the ages, brought to us in the form of a baby, born in a stable, worshipped by shepherds on the very first day of His life.
Merry Christmas to you all!
