"And afterward they desired a king: and God gave to them Saul, the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up to them David to be their king; to whom He gave testimony, and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, which shall fulfill all My will." (Acts 13:21-22).

     How many men do we know to whom the living God Himself has given His own personal testimony? And of those men, how many of them have received of the One “who can speak only the truth”, the personal witness that they are “a man after Mine own heart”? And of this incredible testimony, what does this astonishing affidavit of “a man after My own heart” really signify and mean? Paul gives us the answer himself. Right there in the body of the same text. In the very next words that follow. It says a man after God’s own heart is the man who “SHALL FULFILL ALL HIS WILL”.

     And if a “man after God’s own heart” is the man who has the distinction of “fulfilling all his Father’s will”, was His firstborn Son then not also a man after His own heart? For did He too not fulfil ALL His Father’s will? For is it not written, “this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”? For when it comes to the example of Jesus placing His Father’s will as first and foremost in His life, as preeminent and prominent in all that He did and said, who had willingly constrained Himself “as a man” in order that His Father’s name may be hallowed in all the earth, that His Father’s kingdom may come, and so that His Father’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, did He Himself not say, "Father, if You are willing, take away this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42)? Is that not a Son who, above all things, sees the work of His Father all the way through till it is finished, and who, therefore, fulfils all His Father’s will? Which is not partial fulfilment, but complete fulfilment?

     And when it comes to the inviolable priority of His Father’s will, did Jesus not also explain, “MY FOOD is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work” (John 4:34)? Which tells us that the thing that nourished, fulfilled, and sustained Jesus from one day to the next, as does any man’s food sustain a man from one day to the next, was to do His Father’s will, and to finish His Father’s work. Is “His Father’s work” not the consummation, the expression, and the accomplishment of “His Father’s will”? And did Jesus not say that His food is to finish His Father’s work? Which is to fulfil His will? And did He not declare triumphantly, “IT IS FINISHED!”? Does that not make the One upon whom we are to pattern our lives “a man after God’s own heart”?

     Did Jesus also not say, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does“ (John 5:19)? In other words, not only was His FOOD to do His Father’s will, but whatever He did, He only ever did what would expressly honour and fulfil His Father’s will. He never did anything else. He only did that which would finish His Father’s work. In other words, not only in “His WAYS”, or actions, but also in all “His WORDS” did Jesus fulfil His Father’s will, and finish His Father’s work. For is this not why the word of God says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word“ (Hebrews 1:3)? For did Jesus not also say, “I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it” (John 12:29)? Does this not illustrate that even as far as the words He even uttered, Jesus looked unto His Father to make sure that every word that proceeded from His lips expressed and represented His Father’s will, and finished His Father’s work? There was not a single idle word. “But I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12).

     And if both Jesus and David are men who fulfilled all God’s will, is there not a pattern for God entrusting His will and His work unto men? Does this not tell us that God has made a way for other men to know His will? And for them to likewise be men after His own heart? For is it not true that the purpose of “the chosen people of God” has always been to set apart those who are called to do His will before all nations? So that by the example of their ways, every nation of the world might come to know that there is one God? And that He is a living God? Being the living God whose eyes roam to and fro over all the whole earth in order to be strong for those who are fully committed to Him?

     And is it not written that Jesus came from the line of David? And do we not all descend from the line of Jesus? And of that line of men, is it not said that “the sons of the living God” are those who are “led by His Spirit”? And is it not true that those who are led by His Spirit are those who by distinction then “fulfill all His will?” For why would the Father trust “just anyone” with His will? Would it not be fitting for a Father to trust His sons with His will? For is a son not one who HONOURS his father?

     For those who seek to pattern themselves after the One who pleased His Father, the Father would have this to say. “But what does knowing My will ultimately prove? Is there not a deeper reason for knowing My will besides you finishing My work, and in so doing showing Me that you are lead by My Spirit? Does it not ultimately prove that YOU KNOW ME? For does My will not reveal My heart? Does it not reveal My values, My motives, My plans, My priorities, My thoughts and My ways? So if you don’t know My will, can you really say that you KNOW Me? And do I not want all of My sons to know Me? For do I not exhort you to seek My face? And that if you seek Me with all your heart, that you shall find Me?

     And of those who seek God’s face that they may know their Father’s will, is it not written that the Lord “sees the end of a thing from its beginning”? And is it not said that “better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof”? Does this not tell us that the God our Father who dwells outside of the construct of time, for He is “from everlasting to everlasting”, that He has foreknowledge of who will be a man after His own heart? Which means by being able to see the end of a thing, He has foreknowledge of who will fulfill all His will?

     And whilst “many are called” to fulfill all His will and to finish His work, “not all are chosen”? For is it not written that many are called but few are chosen. For by looking to the end of the lives of “all who are called” to see if they will lay down their own will for the will of their Father in heaven, is it not these who He then ultimately chooses ahead of time? Which is not a function of fate, as some would have it, but of God seeing who will and won’t be found to be strong on behalf of the LORD at the end of a matter, being all those who are like Isaiah, who are not idle, but who of their own choice and volition, put up their hand to say, “Here I am, send me?” (Isaiah 6:8).

     As such, are “the chosen sons” not the Isaiah 6:8 generation? Being those who are not led by their own desires and will, but by the leading of the Spirit of perfect love. Which is what it means to lay down your life as a living sacrifice. Which is the altar of demonstrated love expressed upon the altar of your personal cross. Which the living Word reminds us is our reasonable service (Romans 12).

     So when God says that many are called, but few are chosen, is He thus not referring to all those who He has foreknowledge of who shall be men after His own heart because He sees the end of a matter from its beginning? For when He looks to the end of the matter, better is the end of a thing, for these are those who will all fulfil His will?