Are We Ready for 'Such a Time as This?'

Is not showing love to people the most godly act we can engage in? In 2 Samuel 9, we read, "Now David said, 'Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?'(verse 1)... "And Ziba (Saul's servant) said to the king, 'There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.'" (verse 3) King David asked where he was and sent for him and promised to restore to him all of King Saul's (Mephibosheth's grandfather's) land to him and invited him to "eat bread at (the King David's) table continually.'"(verse 7). All of Saul's servants would work the land for him. Later Ziba, Saul's servant would attempt to secure the estate for himself and his 15 sons; (16:1-4;19:17,24-30). He takes David a couple of donkey loads of food and tells David that Mephibosheth has turned his estate over to him and his sons. I never really saw this story before, but the way I understand it from what I read in my study notes, King David had no way of verifying if what Ziba was saying was true, but he was in a weakened state, because this is during the period when David's son Absalom was trying to overthrow him. I'll have to study this a little more to get a better understanding of what happened, but it looks like Ziba took advantage of David, and David was not in a position, at least at that time, to do anything but what he did. But what I am impressed with is David's kindness to Mephibosheth and subsequently, to Ziba and his sons. All this time, David is faithful to God, and yet David pays a heavy price for his murder of Uriah, Bathsheba's husband and his adultery with Bathsheba. After his marriage to Bathsheba, the child Bathsheba would bear dies and then one of David's sons, Amnon, rapes his sister Tamar and David's other son, Absolom, murders Amnon and then Absolom decides to overthrow King David and become King. But meanwhile, Solomon was the rightful heir to the throne, and Absolom dies in a horrible way, described in chapter 18:9-17. David, of course, is brokenhearted over the death of Absolom. There is a lot more to this story that I can't go into right now, but I just find the story of King David so fascinating because he was considered "a man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14), and he wrote so many wonderful psalms. I love the books of first and second Samuel. They are so full of lessons and just the story about Mephibosheth and then the terrible things that proceeded after that are quite moving. I really do want to return to the "first works." "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent" (Revelation 2:2-5). I don't want the Lord to remove my lampstand from its place. I used to be so much more "diligent to show (myself) approved" (2 Timothy 2:15). I read through the entire Bible every year at first, but I haven't done that for many years. The way to become more like Jesus has always been the same: spending time in the Word and prayer. That is how we become more loving, more committed, more equipped to do battle in the army of the Lord. We all know we are in a battle, the most important battle of all is the battle for the souls of lost people. We are not just here to have a good time, even though there are wonderful times to be had as "every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before," but we have to "pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus. In Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-36 and Luke 9:23 Jesus says, "If anyone desires to come afer Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Matthew 16:24) All three of these passages have the words that speak the loudest to me at times like this, and they are the words on a poster in a Topeka bus as a child, before I even understood what they meant. In Mark 8:36-37, they are "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" To me these are the most powerful words of Jesus in the entire New Testament, perhaps because they were presented to me in such a personal way. The entirety of the Bible is powerful and full of meaning and life-changing truth, and we should not take it lightly, but rather stay as motivated and thirsty for God as we were when we first got saved. I know I'm going to need help from God to do this, but I want to be part of the "glorious church without spot or wrinkle" Jesus is returning for (Ephesians 5:27), to be "holy and without blemish." Let's pray for each other to be filled with the strength and passion God requires of us to be his vessels for "such a time as this" (Esther 4:14).