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“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table. Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 2 Sam. 9:7-8 (NIV)

Heavenly Father, this story underscores why you alone are worthy to be worshiped and adored, loved and served. We have much in common with Mephibosheth. Though we’ve never been “dead dogs” to pity, we have been dead in our sins and trespasses—helpless and hopeless.

Grace should shock us just as much as it stunned Mephibosheth. For you have demonstrated the greatness of your power and the kindness of your heart to us. You raised us from the grave of our sin, and gave us a new heart, a new story, and a new future. We feast today, and forever, at your table of mercy and grace. All because of what you’ve done for us in Jesus.

Indeed, Jesus is the greater Jonathan. For Jesus’ sake, you have been extravagantly generous to us. Because of his finished work, you have lavished your love upon us—not dripped dribbled it. Our hope is built on nothing less, nothing more, and nothing other than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. We are no longer afraid of you; we delight ourselves in you. The gospel is this true and this good. We’re not on probation; we’re in Christ.

And now, Father, you don’t “put up with” us; you enjoy us and greatly delight in us. May this good news radically impact us. May it free us from our crippling insecurities and our lingering shame, from our ever-present pride and our joy-sapping fears; from our selfish ways and self-absorbed days.

And since loving well is the clearest evidence of our “getting” the gospel, increasingly free us to love others to your glory. May the gospel be so “in play” in our lives that we’ll be more intrigued with people, and less irritated by them; more accepting of them, and less guarded around them; less resentful of their weaknesses, and more engaged with their brokenness. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ exalted and all-welcoming name.

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