08 DECEMBER
AND IT HAPPENED: A MISTAKE
“Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened,
as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame.
His name was Mephibosheth. “
(2 Samuel 4:4, NKJV)
Can we imagine the details of the circumstances that made Mephibosheth lame? Prince Mephibosheth had been delivered into the midwife’s hands. She held him first, even before his own mother. He was a beauty and she loved him dearly. She nurtured him as he sat down unaided for the first time, crawled on the carpeted floors of the palace. His first words were to her and he took his first steps to her great joy. Now he was five years and was already being taught by the palace teachers about the dignity and privileges of the heirs. Even though he was not the first son of Jonathan, the heir to King Saul – she must have prayed she would be alive to see him take his place on the king’s council.
King Saul and Jonathan had gone to war as was usual. The unexpected happened, cries rent the air in the palace as they received the news that both Saul and Jonathan had been killed and the Philistine forces were advancing. She knew they would kill all the heirs in the palace. She ran into his chambers, picked him in her strong arms and ran outside the palace gates to find a home to hide him. In her haste, she did not notice the huge rock before her. She ran straight into it, he fell from her hands. Her head was hurting but she rushed to her wailing child. Her maternal home was a safe haven but try with all her nursing skills she could not get him to walk again. To her dismay, he was crippled in both feet. The fact that she saved him alive was no comfort to her; she blamed herself endlessly and was not alive to see him remembered by King David.
Despite our best intentions, we make mistakes and must learn to repent, forgive ourselves and move on in life. We are heirs to God’s throne but may lose our authority and privileges with a fall into sin that may cripple us. However, we have opportunities to repent, turn to Jesus and fulfil God’s purpose for our lives.
ACTION: Be courageous, Keep yourself pure.
PRAYER: Lord, keep me from errors that can cripple or kill my destiny.