I’d like to ask you a question this morning, a question that is debated, and depending who you ask you’ll get a different answer. So here it goes: how does one measure health? Everyone has a slightly different metric that is used to measure health and the condition of one’s body. . .

All sorts of ways to determine health and well being and whether someone is in a good position physically. But what about spiritually? How do you determine the condition of one spiritually? And even more, how about a group of God’s people? How do we determine the spiritual state and condition of God’s people as a whole? While the world measures health by vitals, weight, or cholesterol, God measures health by the condition of the heart. And just like physical health affects the body as a whole, spiritual health affects the body of Christ—the Church. When it comes to both individually and especially corporately as a whole, the way to determine spiritual health is not on the outside, it is on the inside. The way to determine the spiritual health of God’s people is to look at the heart. This vital way to examine God’s people is often overlooked, but it is so very important.

And as we transition to our text this morning we see that Samuel brings to light this issue in Israel. Saul had been anointed to be king, he had led the people into a great victory, and it is coronation day. Samuel is preparing to make Saul the official ruler of God’s people. But Samuel highlights something for Israel that is vitally important for people of God today. What Samuel highlights is the reality that a leader is not responsible for the hearts of the people. Israel was excited! They were getting a new king! And with that comes all sorts of positive momentum. Where will he lead us? Will he make our nation great? And all sorts of pressure on this one man to change the tide of their nation and help them be great. And in the midst of this Samuel reminds the people of Israel, and he reminds us today: the health of God’s people is related to the health of each person. Samuel tells them— “Don’t put all this pressure on one man, your new king. Your nation will only be as healthy as the people in it.” This is the same message God would have for churches today—a group of God’s followers is only as healthy as those who make up the group. Samuel continues to give a dose of cold hard reality to the people of Israel, and we’re going to look at that today because it is so very applicable to churches today as well. From this text, and from Samuel’s admonition to Israel, I want us to consider this big idea today:

Big idea: The health of God’s people starts in the heart of each person