A Kind Heart

2 Samuel 9:1 

“David asked, ” Is there anyone still left in the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

I heard a dad once say that one of the most highly regarded qualities a man can have is kindness.  He was telling this to his young daughter who was getting close to the age of marriage hoping to impart some wisdom to her. My wife’s sister is one of those who shows extra kindness to animals. All the crazy animals she has picked up over the years testifies to her kind heart for animals. Another group of people who show extra kindness are foster parents. We have some family who have been foster parents to many different children over the years. It takes a special person to be a foster parent and to show kindness towards children who have not been shown this virtue.

Here we find David, a man after God’s heart, seeking to show kindness to any member left of Jonathan’s house.  David summoned a servant by the name of Ziba who was a servant of Saul.  She told David that Jonathan has a son, Mephibosheth, who was lame in both feet and living in the house of Makir son of Ammeil.  Interestingly, this was the same Makir who took care of David while he was a fugitive running from Saul.  Now David will take care of Jonathan’s son for the remainder of his days.  David even says to everyone that Mephibosheth will eat at the king’s table and he will get all the land restored to him that his family owned. 

In the middle of this crazy season, we can often find ourselves wrapped up in news and all kinds of things that seem to take our full attention.  Take a moment and extend a kind word or hand to someone who needs it.  Mephibosheth was unable to provide for himself so David gave him a seat at the king’s table, gave him Ziba and her 15 sons, and even gave him twenty servants to work the land so that he will be provided for. 

Look deep inside yourself today, has your kindness been on display or do you have blinders on telling yourself that you don’t have the time or patience?  Let’s all practice going above and beyond with kindness and show the love of Jesus today.

I have attached an article that details out some times that Jesus showed kindness.

Prayer: Father, as we busily go about our day, help us to remember to be kind to our fellow brothers and sisters. Help us see everyone through your eyes, reach out, and love on someone today. Too often we hurry through our day making sure we check the to-do box of items we have to get accomplished. I pray that we would slow down and show kindness to those in need and the ones you put in our path Lord. If we were lame or blind or sick and we knew Jesus was walking down the road we were on, I can be assured he would have kindness on us. So I pray today that we would show much needed kindness to a friend, a coworker, a classmate, a son or daughter, anyone that you put in our path. I also pray that we would extend a helping help with an attitude of love instead of out of obligation. In Jesus name, amen.