Finding the King

* picture taken from

http://blessingsandsimplicity.blogspot.com/2012/03/crumpled-crown.html

            Ed sat in the second row every Sunday, holding onto the chair to stand for prayer. He had a thick gray beard and a face worn by life. Every summer he led Vacation Bible school songs and skits, always smiling as little children began to clap and dance. He loved children and Jesus.

Watching this man from a distance, he seemed like an energetic man, a true man of God. But Ed wasn’t always this way. For many years, he was an alcoholic, getting himself in too deep in the wrong things. It was when he became Christian that he turned his life around and became someone else completely.

Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

When Samuel was choosing the next king, he instantly expected God to choose someone strong, experienced and aged. But God kept rejecting all Jesse’s sons until he got to David. David was the youngest and smallest of his brothers. Samuel was probably wondering what the heck God was up to, picking someone like this to be king. My favorite part of this passage is verse 7, which says, “People judge others by what they look like, but I judge people by what is in their hearts.” Isn’t it so relieving to know that God judges us by who we really are, who we are inside, rather than what we appear to be?

The world judges us by the clothes we wear, stuff we own and our past transgressions, but God can see beyond the outside.  We can’t hide from God, can’t pretend.

Reflect on how this makes you feel. Does it make you happy that God sees your heart? Or does it make you nervous?

                Because God doesn’t view people for worldly ideals, He usually uses the world’s least likely people to do great things. God saw the courage and strength in David’s heart rather than his physical appearance, and then used him for great things. How will God use you?

Please end in a prayer of your own or the one below.

Dear God, Your servant David had such a courageous and passionate heart for following You. I pray that You allow me to follow You with my whole heart. Please open me to all You have in store for me. In Your Name, Amen.