Three Things to Learn From Two Men: David & SolomonSample

It’s About the Heart

Have you ever been house shopping or apartment hunting? You looked at all the pictures online, read the reviews, and drove past the addresses, but now it’s time to go inside and see the sites in person. For many, the pictures don’t match what you see in real life. The outside of the house or apartments looked beautiful, but inside, you smelled mold or saw bad paint. This isn’t always the case. Maybe you’re reading this in your home right now—the one you found that matched the pictures or the apartment that was everything you wanted.

The prophet Samuel experienced the difference between the outside and the inside. The people of Israel had wanted a king of their own, and God was allowing them to get one. They received Saul, who looked powerful and a head taller than anyone else on the outside, but his heart was far from God. He sinned, so God decided the Israelites needed a new king. Samuel is told to go look at the family of Jesse in Bethlehem. When he arrived, he saw Eliab and thought, surely this is the new king, but God told Samuel, “No.” God looks at the things people don’t look at. He looks at the heart.

As humans, we do not see what the Lord sees. We see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart. Samuel presents each son of Jesse before the Lord, and not one of them did the Lord choose. When no one seemed to be left, Samuel asked if there were any more, and Jesse said, "Yes, but he's the youngest." The youngest son, David, is brought to Samuel, and the Lord tells Samuel to anoint him, for he is the one. The Bible tells us that the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day forward.

We can learn from David that God can use anyone. We always assume the most beautiful, the strongest, the healthiest, and the oldest will be the ones used by God, but God can use anyone. You may think that you lack what is necessary to do great things for the Lord, but you don’t lack anything. If you do lack, God will provide you with what you need. We need to learn that our outward appearance doesn’t need to change to be used by God. Rather, we need to surrender our hearts to Him. There’s no way to impress God. Instead, come before Him as a humble servant and say, "God, please use me." The Bible tells us that though our outward self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. Don't worry about being physically enough. Just give your heart to Him wholly.