«　WEEK 10　DAY 2　»

　　Rom. 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that God’s kindness is leading you to repentance?

　　2 Cor. 6:4, 6 But in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God,…in pureness,…in unfeigned love.

　　“…And Ziba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet. Then the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, He is just now… in Lo-debar” (2 Sam. 9:3-4). Lo-debar is a Hebrew word which means “a place without grass.” The world today is a “Lo-debar”; it can never fill up man’s hunger or quench man’s thirst. “Lo-debar” can never satisfy our heart. Brothers and sisters, do you know that we are created for God and not for ourselves? All those who have not turned back to God will never be satisfied. You may dream about how your future will be so beautiful and restful. But after a while, you will find that the promises of the world are all unusable currencies…. The world only brings you discouragement and disappointment. Time after time, the world puts you into a dream; everything is just a mirage and a dry place without grass…. A life outside of God can never be satisfying. Mephibosheth, who ran away from David, was living in a place without grass. A sinner far away from God is also living in a place without grass. (CWWN, vol. 18, pp. 281-282)

　　What did David do when he heard that Mephibosheth was living in a place without grass? Thank and praise the Lord! “Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar” [KJV] (2 Sam. 9:5). Fetch in the original text is “bring.” Romans 3:11 says, “There is none who seeks out God.” Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” Some people think that because we are so evil, we should surely seek after God. Since we are so fallen, surely we should seek after God. But this is not how things work! If God had to wait for us to seek Him before He saved us, we would probably never be saved because we would never seek after Him…. Mephibosheth did not seek after David, but David sent men to fetch Mephibosheth. We did not seek after God, but God sent His Son to seek us and bring us back to His presence.

　　On Mephibosheth’s side, he dared not seek the king because his grandfather was the king’s enemy. In addition, he was not able to seek the king because he was lame. We may think, “Perhaps someday I will become better, seek after God, and earnestly plead to Him to forgive my sins. Perhaps then I will be saved.” But…the Bible says God wants you, calls you, and sends men to tell you that He wants you. Romans 10:6 and 7…tell us that no man can go to heaven to ask the Lord to die for him and that no man can go to Hades to ask the Lord to resurrect from death. The following verses say, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart…; for with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation” (vv. 8, 10)…. If there is a man here who is not saved, it will not be because God does not save him but because he rejects God’s grace.

　　“Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he said, Your servant is here” (2 Sam. 9:6). Here is the most pleasant music! “Mephibosheth.” David did not say anything more when he saw Mephibosheth. He did not say, “Mephibosheth you are here”; he did not say, “Saul’s grandson Mephibosheth”; he did not say, “Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth”; he did not say, “Who are you?” “Mephibosheth.” Have you ever considered, when David said, “Mephibosheth, “ what kind of feeling was in his heart, and what was the tone of his voice? Underneath this word was a beating heart, a heart that expressed God’s heart. “Mephibosheth” shows that God does not hate man, that He wants man, and that He loves man. (CWWN, vol. 18, pp. 282-283)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 18, pp. 279-283