running after You

"Jesus equated obedience with love (John 14:23). David was tenacious, determined, and sincerely devoted to following hard after God's commands.. but he was far from a model of biblical obedience. There was often a yawning gap between his sincere resolve and his actions. In other words, he blew it from time to time, sometimes in spades. Yet he was still a man after God's own heart. That should flutter your heart a bit! What does this tell us? That there's more to being a person after God's heart than obedience. There is also the posture of your heart before God. God counted the sincere intentions of David's heart even when his great weakness led him to wrong decisions.

God sees us the same way. Our sincere intentions to obey God are very significant to God.. Truth be told, we all start with immature love. Life is long because maturity takes time-often more time than we would like. Maturity requires time to develop, but sincere love of any maturity is real in God's eyes. It counts!

Most people beat themselves up over their weaknesses, but David saw God's heart more clearly than most of God's Old Testament servants and most Christian today. He understood that his deep-down determination to obey and love was valued by God even when He came up short. David's weaknesses were at times paraded before his countrymen, even written into Scripture. Yet he had an unsual ability to stand confidently before God and say "I am one of Your favourites. You like me even in my down times. I am completely Yours." This sincere determination to love Jesus even in the midst of our weakness is a huge part of being a man or woman after God's own heart. Our ability to obey will grow over time, but God doesn't treat us according to our obedience alone."

- Mike Bickle, After God's Own Heart.