I Need A Stepladder

I

n August of 2002 I moved into my first apartment in Texas.  After living in the men’s dorm at seminary, I needed just “a few” items to set up house keeping.  My parents drove 1000 miles, dragging all my worldly possessions in a trailer behind my dad’s pickup.  He said he the next time he visited Texas it would be in a car and that he would bring nothing with him.   That is a promise he kept.  The next time they visited me, he drove his car and brought nothing with him from home.

Anyway, back to the first apartment.  We all hit the stores, searching for the items I would need in my new home.  Some of the items made perfect sense to me:  pizza cutters, potholders, non-stick cooking pans, etc.  Other items made sense but just weren’t on my list of “must-haves” for the apartment.  One of those items was a stepladder that my mother insisted would be of invaluable service.  So what do you think I did?  Like the dutiful son, I got the stepladder and it resides to this day in one of my closets, ready to help me whenever the need arises.

The need arose sometime later.  I needed to hang something in my apartment and I simply couldn’t reach it.  I went into my study, opened the closet where my books were stored, took the stepladder from its resting place, returned to my work area, opened the ladder, and used it to successfully finish my task.  As I climbed down, it dawned on my just how valuable that stepladder had been to me.  Without it hanging a fixture in my apartment would have been impossible.  The stepladder did what I could not.  It lifted me off the floor, raising me to a higher position from which I could complete the work I had to do.  What a wonderful picture of God’s provision in our time of need.

The Old Testament book of 2 Samuel tells the story of Mephibosheth, King Saul’s grandson.  Mephibosheth’s father was Jonathan, David’s best friend.  Jonathan made David take an oath that he would show kindness to Jonathan’s family after David became King.  In honor of that promise, King David learned that Jonathan had a son living in the town of Lo-Debar.  Mephibosheth was crippled in both feet because his nurse dropped him when he was five years old.  This is the background to the story found in 2 Samuel.

In 2 Samuel 9:5, 13 we read, “So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel…And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet.”  In these two short passages we see the entire life of Mephibosheth.  This passage also contains a great truth that demonstrates much God has done for us because we have accepted his son, Jesus Christ as our savior.

Mephibosheth lived in Lo-Debar which means “not a pasture.”  Not a very promising name is it?  Coupled with the fact that Mephibosheth was lame, all indications point to the fact that he was not a successful farmer.  When David learned a member of Jonathan’s family was still alive he sent for him.  From that day forward, Mephibosheth ate at the kings table.  He was raised from a place that was “not a pasture” to eating from the king’s table.  You want to talk about a stepladder.  I’d say Mephibosheth received a pretty good boost!

But we need to see ourselves in this story about Mephibosheth.  Before coming to Christ we were dead in sin, living in a place that “was not a pasture” and had nothing to offer. Our sin also meant we were lame, incapable of walking the strait and narrow path God expects His children to walk.  But while when we accepted Jesus as our savior, everything changed.  Because we know Jesus, God raises us up to eat at His table.  We belong to Him and no longer live in a barren wasteland, going through life lame, stumbling and falling with every step we take.  God knows we need a stepladder to raise us and position us to live lives that are holy and pleasing to Him. He provided that stepladder through the death of Jesus on Calvary’s cross.  When we accept him as our Lord and Savior, we receive a great boost!  We eat at the king’s table instead of wandering around in a land that is “not a pasture.”  Are you in need of a stepladder today?  Just open the pages of your Bible to John 3:16 and you will find one there!