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The same day Mephibosheth lost his father, Jonathan, and his grandfather, King Saul, his maid dropped him on his head resulting in lameness in his feet. Years later when King David knew that Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, he showed grace to the boy. David returned Saul's possessions to him and took care of his land. He also made room for Mephibosheth to eat at his table every day as if he was David's own son.
Mephibosheth did not remember David because of what he said, rather because of what David did.
Isn't it time to aggressively return to village parenting? The idea of "It takes a village to raise a child" was that everyone should invest in the community—especially pushing the children to excel in education and stay out of trouble. Not only did people know their neighbors, neighbors helped each other. What are we doing for children? Not just ours—children.
My personal experience
I do not remember a single conversation with my grandfather, who died when I was four. Soon after my dad died at the beginning of my second semester in college, my oldest brother showed me a Deed of Trust to a property in Texas. I read my name listed with my cousins and brothers as owners to my grandfather's house that he and dad built with their own hands. When I took over management of it in 1994, the property was worth $ 16,000; today it is valued at over $700,000.
The point—my granddaddyincludedme! He made me a property owner.
Second, in a recently article, "Say These Words When You Pray," I noted that praying is a lot like bicycle riding. My oldest brother Lewis taught me how to ride a bike without training wheels. I remember nothing he said. He helped me get on the seat, showed me how to balance myself, then just let me go.
Yes, I fell, and fell but my brother picked me up and started the routine all over again. Therefore, since he would not let me quit, I now ride bicycles.
The point—Lewis would not let me quit!
Our motivation
David helped Mephibosheth; he remembered that Jonathan helped him. Others have helped us, so we should help others, too.
In conclusion let me note two things. First, Lives Matter, ALL of them! Remembering the sacrifices and contributions of folk who came before us,everyone of us should help as many others as we can.
Second, what could helping children look like?
Involvement is about doing. Doing can be discipling. So let's get busy!
The sacrifice and contributions of others should drive us to invest in others. Most importantly, for us God sent His Son, Jesus gave His Life, and The Holy Spirit opened our eyes to see it!
So, the investments of Others and Our God challenge that we must do all we can to show the love of God.
 | R D Carrington, Sr., is the organizing pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church of Jesus Christ in Beaumont, Texas which is in year 37; has been preaching 55 and pastoring 47 years. He holds a PhD., from Grand Canyon University and now serves as a Content Expert in the College of Doctoral Studies at GCU. |
Have you ever felt the pull to full-time ministry work as a missionary or pastor? If not, you can still make a Kingdom impact without quitting your current job. In this eBook, you will learn the four essentials that can change your perspective of work, your workplace, and most importantly, your heart.
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Ryan Sanders serves as the Director of Content for BiblicalLeadership.com. |
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