What was it about Abraham that God saw and loved? There was Abraham and Lot but why Abraham… why did God favor Abraham over Lot? What about Joseph and his brothers, why did God choose the 11th out of 12 to favor? How about Samuel and Eli, they both had almost similar stories… they both had children that despised the word of God, but only one of them was rejected and the other was esteemed. We are all familiar with the story of David and Saul, and we (well personally speaking, I) always wondered what it was about David that made him so loveable to God that despite his flaws God still calls him a man after His own heart, while God rejected Saul his predecessor. How can I leave the famous Cain and Abel out of this analogy… one’s offering was accepted and the other’s was totally rejected. Why?
Take a look at the passage below (2 Chronicles 16:7-10 Amplified)
“7At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, Because you relied on the king of Syria and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you.
8Were not the Ethiopians and Libyans a huge host with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied then on the Lord, He gave them into your hand.
9For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him. You have done foolishly in this; therefore, from now on you shall have wars.
10Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison [in the stocks], for he was enraged with him because of this. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.”
I am most intrigued by verses 9 and 10 but at the moment, more so by verse 10. After the verdict, what did King Asa do? He became mad and committed atrocities, you would think that He’d run to the God who delivered him from former troubles and apologize, but no-o he got angry at God and took it out on his servants.
Was Asa’s reaction similar to that of Cain, Eli, Saul, even Lot? I’d say to a large extent yes. From the passage above, I deduce that people who fall under the category of the so called God “rejects” all have one or all of the following in common: they had experienced the favor and mercies of God at some point. They were unrepentant and proud and to an extent wanted independence from God. However my focus is on the people whom God favored. What was it about them?! Take a look at verse 9… but before we do, I’d like to emphasize that we (you and I) can in no way earn the favor of God. If we are favored by God, then it is because He chooses to favor us not because we are overly spiritual (Romans 9:14 – 15 – The message) (Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses, "I'm in charge of mercy. I'm in charge of compassion." Compassion doesn't originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God's mercy. The same point was made when God said to Pharaoh, "I picked you as a bit player in this drama of my salvation power." All we're saying is that God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part for good or ill.)
To further buttress my point, take a look at Exodus 33:19 – Amplified. (And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, THE LORD, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy and loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy and loving-kindness.)
Now that we are clear on how we obtain God’s favor, let us go back to 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him.” – While we can in no way earn God’s favor, we can move Him to act on our behalf by having a blameless heart towards him. God is interested in our hearts; the conditions of our hearts! David knew the importance of a blameless heart toward God that was why he sincerely prayed that God create in him a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within him – Psalm 51:10. Also, Psalm 51:17 says “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 34:18 also states that “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Is 57:15 “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Is 66:2 “For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands”
So now that we know that God is only interested in a broken and contrite heart, what is a broken and contrite heart? A broken heart is a heart that is totally subdued; humbled and a contrite heart is a penitent/repentant heart (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/broken) I’d go a step further and add that having a humbled and contrite heart enables us to seek after God, the things of God, seek to please Him and love Him genuinely. It makes it possible to be totally sold out and obedient to God not withholding anything. It is a heart that in humility acknowledges that without God it is impossible to exist or obtain redemption. One that seeks to be and in fact is highly dependent on God and trembles at his word – highly reverences God, one that is genuinely repentant and knows and understands the God he/she serves. In a nutshell, it is a heart that draws near to God, and like James 4:8 KJV says, "Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you...."
All the above equals a right heart with God! Is your heart right with God?
The beauty of God is He answers genuine prayers, I know I want my heart to be right with God at all times, Moses also knew the importance of a right heart with his maker that was why in Exodus 33:13 He asked “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.”
If you desire to have a heart that is blameless towards God, He can change your heart. In Ez 11:19 He said “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”
If this is your desire, go to your Father and tell Him how you feel and what you want, Moses and David did and look at how they turned out. Our Father desires that we all be the apple of His eyes, the people after His heart. So rest assured that if we humble ourselves and pray, He will hear from heaven and restructure our hearts
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