Acts 13:22
“And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.”
One of the most amazing statements that God could say about a man is said about David. The verse above says, “…I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart…” This should be the desire of every Christian to be a person after God’s own heart. There is no doubt in my mind that any Christian who is doing anything for God has this great desire. But, what does it mean to be a man after God’s own heart? What was it that made David a man after God’s own heart? I believe this statement has a couple of meanings.
First, it means that David was a man who had the same likes and dislikes as God. You will find that any time a person has God’s heart, they will have His desires in their heart. That is what Psalm 37:4 teaches when it says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” God will give you the right desires if you spend your life delighting in Him. When you have God’s desires as David did, you will have the same likes and dislikes as God. What you have to understand about this is that this is a total sacrifice of your will. You will never become a Christian after God’s own heart until you totally sacrifice your will for His.
Second, being a man after God’s own heart means that David pursued the heart of God. Just like a man tries to win over the heart of a young lady whom he likes, so David daily pursued winning over God’s heart. You will never become a Christian after God’s own heart until your daily pursuit is the pursuit of fulling the desires of God’s heart. What breeds a happy relationship is when one person’s only desire is to please the other. Pursing the heart of God will happen when your only desire is to please Him.
The question that arises is how do we become this Christian after God’s own heart? The answer is found in the verse above when it says, “…which shall fulfil all my will.” Simply put, you will only become a Christian after God’s own heart by fulfilling all of God’s will. David’s life was about doing whatever God told him to do. He didn’t just perform part of God’s will, but all of it. You can become a Christian after God’s own heart, but you will only succeed at doing this by obeying everything that God tells you to do.
Friend, this must be your daily mission if you are going to become a Christian after God’s own heart. You must make your daily goal to find out what God’s will is for you that day and do it. You will never become a Christian after God’s own heart by doing part of what God tells you to do. You need to do all of it. Complete obedience to God’s Word and will is the only way you will accomplish being a person after God’s own heart.
Let me ask you, does God call you a Christian after His own heart? You know the answer if you answer honestly. Let me encourage you to surrender your will to His will. If you are going to be a Christian after God’s own heart, you will have to die to yourself daily. Your prayer every day should be, “Lord, I surrender my will completely to You today. Holy Spirit, fill me with your power and help me to fulfill God’s will today.” This must be your daily prayer if you are going to be a Christian after God’s own heart.