The Lord was grieved that he made Saul King over Israel. He sent Samuel to go see Jesse of Bethlehem because He had chosen one of his sons.
1 Samuel 16:6-7 –6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
This is very important scripture here. The Lord does not look at the outward appearance like man does. The Lord looks at one’s heart. Clearly he’s not looking at the pumping mechanism in your chest.
What is the heart? I’m going to do my best to describe it.
The heart is your spirit.
The soul is the eternal vessel in which we are, but the spirit in essence is the character of your soul. The spirit can be many things. It can be good, bad, evil, gentle, loving, selfish, etc.
So God looks at the heart. In David what did he see? Was He impressed by the fact David would give the shirt off his back to someone? Was God impressed because David was a kind gentle spirited person?
Not from what I read.
The David I read about was a little firecracker who had faith of a Lion for God. He trusted God and loved Him so much he wasn’t going to listen to some arrogant Giant bad mouth his greatest Love. When David loved the Lord he lived for the Lord.
Now here is just one of many reasons why the Bible is so great. A man after God’s heart and is revered as such was a mess at times. Why is this important? No one is perfect and God wants you even in your imperfection, to love Him with the faith of a warrior. As you get closer He begins to reveal the areas of your life that need to change and draw nearer to Him.
First Love! How do we do this? Surround yourself with God. When you sit down to relax, read about Him. When you sit down to watch television, watch shows about Him. When you listen to music, worship Him with the words of the song.
If you’re thinking about God constantly throughout your whole day, your heart is in the right place. God looks at the heart. He wants to be your best friend. Can you think of a better Best Friend?