Context for this week’s devotionals can be found in the story of David and Mephibosheth. You can read the whole account here: 1 Samuel 20, 2 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 9
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
A final thought about Mephibosheth. It is plausible to think there could have been war between King David, Mephibosheth, and Jonathan’s remaining descendants. The strife between King Saul and David could have carried through generations. But instead, they chose love, grace, honor, sacrifice, generosity, and peace.
Much like last year, we want to have hope that a new year will bring happiness, peace, and healing. Unfortunately, we may not be confident that we can have hope. It looks dreary, doesn’t it? It seems there is sickness, anger, and frustration all around us.
The reality is there is brokenness in the world, but we do not have to feel hopeless. God gives us hope despite the world around us. His plans are to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). He has promised to be with us through all time if we allow Him.
But there is a role He asks us to play in displaying that hope in our own lives and the lives of others. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. We can choose to be intentional in bringing light to the fallen world by spreading love, grace, generosity, and peace.
To some extent that will involve sacrifice but when we make a conscious effort to separate ourselves from the ways of the world, we will start to see hope in our lives despite the world around us. And in doing so, our light will radiate in the broken world.
Like David, Mephibosheth, and Jonathan’s descendants, let’s make a conscious effort to choose to be the generational change that outshines the dreary!
