I came early to the meeting today so I could talk to you before the others arrived. My heart is full of anguish and I needed to talk about it more privately with someone. I am going to entrust the feelings and thoughts of my soul to you.
My heart is overwhelmed with the rigors of my vocation. There is much pain and agony going on among the sheep; and in wanting to be helpful, running here and there to keep them close to my heart, I have come up lame. If my Lily was here right now she would say with a smile on her face, “Mike, you’ve always been lame.” She’s so right. I’ve been in recovery from my lameness from the very beginning.
There’s a story in the Old Testament that I can totally relate to about another lame sheep dog. His name was Mephibosheth. . .Mephy for short. He was the son of Jonathan, who was the best friend of King David.
“King David said, ‘Is there anyone left from the house of Saul who I can show kindness to?’ They told him
that his friend Jonathan had a son who is lame on his feet. And the King told them to fetch him and bring him to the palace. When Mephibosheth came before the King, he fell on his face and paid homage to David.
The King said to him, ‘Do not fear Mephy because I will surely show you kindness because of my Love for your father Jonathan. I will restore everything to you that belonged to your father including all the land he owned. . .and you shall continually eat with Me at my table every day.
Mephi bowed down before the King and said, “Lord what have I done to deserve such kindness and mercy that you should look on me like a son, when I am only a dead dog?” David said to him, ‘You are one of my sheep. I have snatched you from certain death. You are a prince of the kingdom.”
My dad used to say that anyone in a hopeless and impossible situation was a “dead dog.” Mephy was sure that King David was very angry at him and would punish him severely. He had no ability to help himself out of the hopeless situation he was in. . .on the rocky cliff ready to fall to his death. I know the feeling. All of the sheep know.
In the Hebrew language, the word lame means,”smitten, i.e. maimed; dejected, contrite. But it also means, “to skip over or spare; to dance and leap; to pass over.” When I think of the definition of smitten, it not only means, “to strike hard with the circumstances of life; to knock down and severely injure; filled with guilt and shame . . .but it also means, “to produce musical sound; to shine upon suddenly; to impress suddenly; to Love the undeserving; to sing to the heart and heal it; to bring back from the dead.” The King changes a dying dog into a sheep pup of His Personal flock.
He passes over their sin. He spares their life. He enters into the trials that were authored before time. . .the trials that make them fall on their face before Him with a contrite heart, full of guilt and shame. . .and they wait for the guilty verdict and the punishment of death. But the only words they hear, are words of Love and Life and Forgiveness that shine in their heart and brings Divine Music to their ears. And they cry with relief and Joy. And they eat every day at the King’s table, dining on the Fruit of His Vineyard. . . Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, Self-control, Power, Wisdom and Eternal Life.
The others are coming into the meeting now. My Lily has some freshly cut flowers in her arms and they smell 
heavenly. She asked me why there were tears in my eyes and I told her that I had to get some things off of my chest. They were just killing me. Now I’m full of Joy. She understood. I am so ready for the Dumbo sheep coming in. . .and the sailors, the firemen, the little donkeys. . .all the glow worms and the eagles. . .just herding each other around.
They all know Mephy’s story by heart. They were smitten by the Lamb of God too. They fell in Love with Him at first sight. They just love Him to death. Such smitten, little sheep dogs.
The King’s Love. Freely Given. Freely Received. Free, Loves.
A Good Moment 