If your heart is not in what you are doing, you will never do it well. In serving Jesus, you have to have a heart after God’s own heart, like David. David did everything with a heart after God’s own heart. King Saul’s heart was never in being king over Israel. Because of that, he did what he wanted to do, and it got him removed as king.
1 Samuel 13:14
“But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
Tripped Up
Nobody was given more than Saul. Blessed with good looks, he stood a head taller than everybody else. An excellent soldier who people followed into battle, the first king of Israel. Unfortunately, Saul had many character flaws that ruined it all. He was impatient, he was quick-tempered, and he didn’t like anyone else getting the attention. Samuel comes and removes his kingdom and in turn gives it to one who has a heart after God. We all know this was David.
Delayed Judgment
I want you to think about a couple of things. God didn’t immediately remove Sauls kingdom. Sometimes God pronounces a judgment but delays implementing it. God knew David was still a teenager and needed “seasoning.” Second, Saul got progressively worse after this. David had to be recruited to play the harp for the king to soothe the beast that was growing inside of him. Ironically the only peace that Saul got was from the one anointed to take his place.
Humble and Contrite
Selfishness can consume a person. If all we do is focus on ourselves and whether we are happy or not we will turn out just like Saul. A person after God’s own heart is humble and contrite. They seek to please and serve God with all of their being. David wasn’t who the world would pick as their leader, but God saw through the superficial signs and looked at his heart, it was pure and committed. David wasn’t perfect, and his stumbles were of epic proportions, but God never questioned his heart. That’s because it never changed. A person with a heart after God’s own heart is not perfect, and often they don’t look like that ideal holy person but what’s on the inside is what sets them apart. If you are going to chase after something today, chase after the heart of God.