A Man After God’s Own Heart
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. ––Proverbs 3:6
Often, our focus is on how others evaluate us. We are so concerned about our image and our appearance that it’s easy to lose the eternal perspective of what’s truly important. Children’s author Ethel Barrett said, “We wouldn’t be so concerned about what people think of us if we realized how seldom they do.” God is concerned with none of these material things. He’s not concerned with the outside of a man. God is concerned with the inside, the real you versus the image that you project.
In the New Testament it tells us exactly what God is looking for in a man in Acts 13:22: “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jessie, a man after my own heart; He will do everything I want him to do.’ ” God wants willingness of the heart. The question that we need to ask ourselves is, “Am I willing to be what God is calling me to be, and am I willing to do what God’s calling me to do?” God asks you to do hard things, and if you are willing you’ll change. It’s literally impossible to grow and advance in your journey as a Christ follower without change and pain. But if you’re willing, God will use your willingness and bless it.
God loves you and like any father He wants the love reciprocated by your willingness to become the person He wants you to be. Accept the things that will change you into a confident, secure, self-respecting person filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. When you are willing, you are in the process of being a man after God’s own heart. And when you are a man after God’s own heart, you will slowly lose focus on what the world thinks, and be more concerned about the Father’s will and heart for you.
Thank you, Father, for directing my paths and helping me to become a man after Your own heart.