because of my name, which means ‘beloved of God,’ i’ve always seen myself in the stories i’ve read of king david. i saw myself in the shepherd who did his task well, but without reward or acknowledgment. i saw myself as one anointed by God, even as others who may have seemed more qualified were passed over. i saw myself in the warrior who took a stand when no one else would against a giant problem. i have seen myself in him as i read the stories of the way he showed respect to saul, God’s anointed, whether Saul ‘deserved’ his respect or not. i’ve seen myself in his weaknesses, as i fight against lust, contentment and pride. and i have prayed for years that i would be defined as a man after God’s own heart.
it’s no secret to anyone that david failed in a pretty large way. but it’s also no secret that his heart was desperate for and tuned in to our God.
but sometimes i wonder if i set the bar too low. i want to be a man after God’s heart, but i don’t think that should allow room for failure. my aim needs to be complete holiness which leads to perfect obedience.
there are three people in the bible who have more than a few chapters donated to narratives of their life, and yet the bible never mentions sin in their lives. those three people include Jesus – who genuinely went without sin – as well as daniel and joseph. i want it to be made clear that i believe there were sins in the lives of joseph and daniel, but in a book that is as honest as scripture about the shortcomings of it’s characters…i find it profound that these two men have no shortcomings recorded. they lived blameless lives. blameless doesn’t mean perfect, but it does mean that as soon as something is found to be lacking, it’s fixed. it means immediate conviction, followed by complete confession, repentance, reconciliation and restitution.
but follow with me as i jump to a big conclusion. maybe it’s too large of a leap, or maybe it’s exactly what young men of God need to hear. those three…look at the places the Lord brought them to. all three were elevated to a position of leadership that allowed them to run a kingdom that brought glory to God. Most noticibly, His Son sits at God’s right hand, as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He reigns over the kingdom of heaven. but among the other two, those without divinity in their blood, daniel was placed in charge of the entire kingdom of nebudchednezzar. his integrity, honesty, purity and loyalty earned him a spot of trust and led to a kingly proclamation that God is God indeed. perhaps the most pagan nation the world had ever seen acknowledged God as God! joseph was placed in charge of the Pharoah’s kingdom. because of his trust in the Lord and patience and faith in allowing the Lord to work, the entire empire saw the Power and Might of God.
God uses men who are blameless and raises them up to places of authority to bring glory to his name.
revelation 14 talks about a group of 144,000 men who are the firstfruits of God. they were marked by purity, by being blameless, by speaking truth, and by following the Lamb wherever he goes.
i challenge the generation of men coming up alongside of me and behind me to live blameless lives marked by purity, honesty, humility, prayer, obedience, loyalty, and integrity. i dare you men to let the Lord show himself through your character, and to use your humble obedience to bring kingdoms – whole kingdoms – back to him. i dare you to lie down your honor so that he can receive honor.
brother lawrence in his book, the Practice of the Presence of God said that he never let the desperation or sinfulness of the world disappoint him, because he knew that God could, in a second, fix all of it. That begs the question, if He wanted to fix it, am i living in such a way that he could use me? maybe that’s the wrong question. perhaps the right question is, am i living in such a way that he would choose to use me? i know that God is capable of using men who aren’t walking with him. he regularly used kings and rulers serving other gods to fulfill His purposes throughout history. but i think God would rather use a man who will give him all the glory back. i think God would rather use a man who will agree to obey Him before His command is given. i think God raises to honor men who have no desire other than His honor. and i think those men adore our God more than any other, because they see His glory, and they never fail to see His hand at work.
i want to be a daniel. even if i don’t make it out of the den. i want to be a joseph. even if i never get out of the dungeon. i want to be blameless, with His glory, honor and praise as my only pursuit.
