Week 33 Gift, Character and the Spirit of God
S: 1 Sam 16:21-22 (NKJV)
21 So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.”
O: “Your gift will get you through the door but your character will keep you in the room.” This is a saying we can probably all relate to either because we have been through it personally or have seen it play out in the lives of those around us. As we see in verse 17, Saul’s request was for his servants to find a musician who was skillful. As we go through the rest of the chapter, you will notice that there is no mention of David’s skill after he had been chosen. This is a great example of a person’s skill getting them through the door. However, we see in our focus verses above (v21,22) that what kept David in the palace was Saul’s love for him. His love and favour for David was clearly of greater importance than David’s gift. We also see this when Saul sends a message to Jesse asking for David to stay in the palace longer than planned because he found “favour” in Saul’s sight! If we think about it closely, we prefer to be in the company of people with good character over highly skilled people whose character may be questionable. David demonstrated what we are all aiming for, that is – great skill, great character and the spirit of God. The secret ingredient to this is walking with God! He is the giver of the gift and having Him at the centre of our lives will always keep us grounded. True humility and perspective keeps us balanced, especially when the hype and affirmation from those around us gets too much. As Christian Musicians, sometimes our gifts are often revered and praised but we must remember that your gift cannot function optimally without the Spirit of God and good character.
A: For every praise our natural gift receives, let us make a conscious decision to also redirect them to God.
P: Lord, draw me closer to you because I know in you I find purpose, passion to be skillful and the fruit of the spirit that grows good character.
