Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from the group Sidewalk Prophets singing … Come To the Table … poignantly singing of howGod has given all in His family the recognition and providence of God’s table.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 2 Samuel 9:1 [NLT] … 1 One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
… King David seeks to memorialize his dear departed friend, Jonathan, with kindness to his family.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Samuel 9:1-7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… David searched to memorialize his friendship with Jonathan by extending kindness to his relatives.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 25:40 [NIV] … 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
… Jesus, teaching on how the King will reward His subjects in heaven for reaching out to serve others in His Name.
Reference Passage : … Romans 12:1 [NIV] … 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
… Our living sacrifice to help others is the way we show our love and remembrance of what our Lord did for us.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 2:3-4 [NIV] … 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
… When we reach out to help others, we do so in memorial to Jesus, Who reached out to help us with His grace.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, John Blase, used a story of recognizing others to memorialize their lives. And the ODB author wrote: I grew up in a church full of traditions. One came into play when a beloved family member or friend died. Often a church pew or possibly a painting in a hallway showed up not long afterward with a brass plate [see photo] affixed: “In Memory of . . .” The deceased’s name would be etched there, a shining reminder of a life passed on. I always appreciated those memorials. And I still do. Yet at the same time they’ve always given me pause because they are static, inanimate objects, in a very literal sense something “not alive.” Is there a way to add an element of “life” to the memorial?
Today, as I write this, it is “Memorial Day,” here in the USA, the day annually when we recognize those who’ve given their lives in armed service to our country. And many will be putting flowers on the graves of Veterans to remember their sacrifice; and as with plaques to honor the lives of others in the ODB story today, that kind of recognition is a lovely gesture of remembrance.
However, I think the remembrance to his beloved friend Jonathan, documented in today’s highlight passage, is a far more moving and honoring gesture to show love to those who are no longer with us. David, after Jonathan’s death, sought to find someone living in the house of Saul to honor his friend Jonathan’s passing; and he found young Mephibosheth to bring into his court and give him the cover and protection of the King’s table.
And that’s what Jesus has done for us, hasn’t He? And He has also reached out to bring us to His table as the linked song sings; and then He has said (see Matt. 25:40) that any time we reach out to help or serve others in His Name, we are remembering Him with our service. So, who can we reach out today and give a memorial to the love and service Jesus has offered to us by helping someone else today?
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for bring me (us) to Your Table … forever.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to reach out and serve others to memorialize what Jesus did by dying on the cross so that we can come to His heavenly table. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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