A man after his own heart

The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart. 1 Samuel 13:14

If there is any proof that God is not the detached deity of the deists, it is this. God is not only interested in and interactive with his creation, he is actively seeking men and women. In the New Testament, we read the record of our Lord's words to the Samaritan woman, that God is seeking those who will worship him in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:23). The prophet told King Asa that the eyes of the Lord run throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward him (2 Chronicles 16:9). And in the text for today, God sought a man after his own heart.

He is still doing this today. We should aspire through the grace of God to be men and women after God's own heart. We should not want our hearts to be molded by this world but by his word. We should delight in the Lord (Ps. 37:4). We should be filled with the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

Of course, our hearts will only be right when they are made right by the regenerating power of the Spirit of Christ. On our own, our hearts will only be what they are: sinkholes of selfishness and godlessness. It is God who sovereignly changes us so that we are no longer hostile to him and his law (Rom. 8:7). And it is God who upholds us every day. We are thankful that God's seeking is not a seeking that waits on us, but a seeking that changes us.

God seeking us should encourage us to seek him. We see this dynamic expressed by David in Psalm 27: "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, They face, LORD, will I seek" (8). The proof of being after God's own heart is to seek him. Let us therefore seek the Lord ourselves this day, and pray to him for the mercy of his grace to mold our hearts and meld our affections, so that we too are men and women after God's own heart.