… doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men. Ephesians 6:6-7
Samuel is sent to Jesse of Bethlehem because God had chosen one of his sons to be the next king. “When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.’ But 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 man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’” (Samuel 16:6).
The Lord looks at the heart. David’s actions didn’t always please the Lord, but even after David’s failures, it’s recorded that he was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Likewise, we read Jesus being very critical of the Pharisees because they were more interested in appearances than in the condition of their hearts (Matthew 23). God is more interested in our attitudes than our actions.
Sometimes our actions fall short of what we or God desires, even in times of failure, we can still please God by having the right attitude. Alternatively, our actions may be right but our attitude may be wrong. We see from the Pharisees that this doesn’t please God. He wants us to have the right mindset in all circumstances.
The above verse is initially addressed to slaves. Yet it applies to us too. Whatever situation we find ourselves in life, God is concerned about our attitude. Are we only interested in outward appearances or do we desire to do the will of God from our heart?
