A Book Review from Books At a Glance
by Kristin Stiles
When is the last time you read a children’s book about Mephibosheth? Or any book about Mephibosheth? Do you even know who Mephibosheth is? Well, he was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul. Turns out his story is a great example of grace, and that is exactly why Paul Tautges chose him to write about.
In case you need a crash course on the story of Mephibosheth, here you go. Soon after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle, Mephibosheth suffered a grave injury. His nursemaid feared that the Philistines would try to kill off the rest of the family, and so she fled with the five-year-old boy. She dropped him, though, and in the fall both of his feet were so badly damaged that he was never able to walk again. He lived in fear that King David would kill him as had been done with many of the other members of King Saul’s family, so many years later when he received an invitation to the palace, he must have been quite fearful. As it turns out, David wanted to do something special for any of Jonathan’s descendants because he loved him. David invited Mephibosheth to live at the palace and to eat every meal with him. What an honor for this poor man!
Tautges uses this story to demonstrate how grace works. Mephibosheth hadn’t done anything to deserve this kind of attention, but it was lavished on him anyway. In like manner, we certainly don’t deserve the wonderful gifts that God gives us. He provides us with life and health, friends and family, food and shelter. In fact, every good thing in our lives is provided by His grace. Even more than that, though, He provided a way for us to have our sins forgiven and to be adopted as His sons and daughters. This is the amazing message shared in the pages of this book. We, too, can have “dinner with the King” if we accept His invitation to repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus for salvation.
This is a beautiful book with beautiful illustrations and a beautiful message of forgiveness and grace. Introduce your children to Mephibosheth, and, more importantly, introduce them to our glorious Savior and the doctrines of grace.
Kristin Stiles is a home-school mom, a Sunday School teacher, and helps lead the “Young, Reading, & Reformed” children’s ministry at Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia, PA.