A SERVANTS HEART…

1 SAMUEL 13:14

But now your kingdom shall not continue.  The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.

Even as we reflect on that scripture and the life of David as indicative of the character traits of a servant’s heart….I want to frame a servant’s heart from the scriptures this week as a shepherd:

The selection of David to be Israel’s king illustrates how God often disregards human customs and traditions to accomplish His purposes.  By human standards, David, as the youngest son of Jesse, appeared least likely to be considered for a leadership position. But God saw the heart of the young man and knew that His people needed a leader with a tenderness of spirit or a Shepherd’s heart.

What does this speak to us?  So often in ministries, the church in general, we ostracize anyone who is new and deprive ourselves of the use of their spiritual gifts.  We get so caught up in traditionalism that anyone with an innovative or different method for reaching the lost is overlooked.  As a young preacher, I was told if the only way someone knows you are a preacher or a servant is because you have to tell them, what does that say about the character that you reflect.  Do you have a servant's heart? A servant does not have to tell others about their giftedness but humbly position themselves to be a help to someone else.  OKAY I'M GONNA SAY IT....YOUR GIFT WILL MAKE ROOM FOR YOU.

Rather than trying to find an ulterior motive when God sends people to bless your ministry or to be intercessors in your life, an effective leader expresses gratitude to God for the gift of "helps" that he sends your way.  My responsibility is to shape and mold how that gift impacts the ministry God has placed me over, while helping the person God allows me to mentor to take their availability and transfer it into usability.

Jesus modeled servanthood very well as he never allowed traditionalism to prevent impactful ministry and the presence of the spirit.

In the Old Testament, the shepherd was a very common metaphor for describing God's relationship to Israel.  Shepherding was one of the earliest human occupations. A family’s wealth was measured by how many sheep, goats, cows, horses, a man owned.

What was the role of the shepherd? It was the shepherd’s responsibility to count each animal in order to make sure none had gone astray. At night, sheep were kept in simple enclosures, in caves or within walls made from bushes. At times, the shepherd would sleep with his body lying across the gate to the enclosure in order to keep the sheep safe.

Jesus himself gives the servant a shepherd’s charge to keep in John 21:16, 

He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

We have to learn to Love God's sheep more than we love our TRADITIONS.