The Heart of the Matter

Focus Scripture:

1 Samuel 16: 1 – 7 (NIV)

1The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

2But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

4Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

5Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

7But 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 people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Sometimes people will look at another person and by appearance only say, “Wow!  This person is a strong leader or would make a strong leader.”  The debate has gone on for a long time about whether leaders are born or made.  Are there certain characteristics such as looks, height, athletic build or other physical qualities that make for a good leader?  Some would say, “Yes.”  Some studies have shown that people think tall men make good leaders.  But have such leaders often been the best leaders?  For some yes and for others, the jury is still out.

To accomplish God’s plans, God often ignores those attributes that we humans think make for a great leader.  Often the leader that God needs are the very people that other people would say would never qualify for a leadership role.  These are the very people that others would disregard as having no leadership capacity.

In these first seven verses of chapter sixteen, even Samuel thought that God was going to choose Eliab to be the next leader.  Eliab is described as looking like a leader.  He was tall, strong, sturdy, and looked noble.  Eliab looked the part.  As people we get fixated on the external.  We want the image of the leader that we have in our minds.  But this is not always the case with God.  God looks at the strengths of the character.  God looks at the heart of the leader.

For God, the heart is what qualifies the leader.  Leaders must have a servant heart.  The leader needs to know that as leader they are to serve and not to be served.  But not only know this… the leader must live it out at all times.  The right skills, talents, physical looks, personality, intelligence, and hard work are all excellent, but the heart of the leader is what God looks at first.