1 Samuel 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'”
In this world, what you look like means a lot. For some, it means everything to have nice clothes, nice hair, and nice accessories. Outward appearance shows that you are successful, wealthy, and affluent. People aspire and work hard to have nice things to show how much they have. None of that matters to God. God looks on the inside. God looks inward, not outward.
In 1 Samuel 16, God was assisting Samuel in choosing a king to replace King Saul. Samuel was guided to the family of Jesse in Bethlehem. Now Jesse had 8 sons. Each son passed before Samuel and each son was rejected by God except for one. God did not choose the oldest son. God did not choose the strongest son. God did not choose the tallest one. God chose David, the smallest and youngest of the sons of Jesse.
God saw the insides of the first 7 sons and did not like what He saw. God was not concerned with the outward appearance of the boys. He was concerned with the heart and mind of the next king of Israel. That heart and mind was David, who was to be the next king to replace Saul. Saul started out good and through bad decisions, lost his favor with God. God made His decision based on what was inside of David.
God does not look at us like we look at each other. God made us so He knows our hearts. We look and judge people based on clothes, status, or wealth. We look at the outward to determine a man or woman’s worth. People without much are looked down on as worthless. Sports athletes and movie stars are revered because of the money and careers they have. In the end though, everyone is the same in God’s eyes. He looks at the heart and rates people based on what is inside, whether you follow Him or not.
God does not care about the outward. He doesn’t care about wealth. In the end, everything on Earth is God’s. He created it so it is His. After we die, our stuff does not go with us. God cares about our souls and we should care about them too. Our bodies will die but our souls will go on. Whether your soul goes to Heaven or Hell is determined by the life lived on Earth, not on possessions.
God has an awesome habit of using people who are small or seemingly insignificant. Story after story can be found in the Bible that show that God likes to use the “little guy.” David is another one of those stories. From the time He kills the large giant Goliath to the end of his reign and passing of the torch to Solomon, his son, God was using David to further His kingdom and protect His people.
Today, we are the “little guy.” Today, God is using each and every one of us for His honor and His glory. We are all part of the grand plan that God has in store. No one is insignificant. No one is worthless. No one can be ignored. We all play a part. Our role is to preserve our insides. Don’t worry about the outsides. God wants our minds, souls and hearts to be pure like He is pure. Now, because of sin, we can’t be pure. Enter Jesus. He came, took the sin and made us white as snow. Pure again. Sinless as the beginning of time in the garden of Eden.
If we take care of our insides, our outsides will take care of themselves. The light of God that is inside will show on the outside and people will want that light that shines. Let us make people want what we have. We have God and we should share Him with all those who do not have Him. Spread God’s love to the world today.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for loving me, inside and out. You care for me in ways that others cannot begin to. What we have on the inside means so much to You. Help us to continue to nurture our souls, hearts and minds with Your love, the Bible, prayer and all of You. You are our Father in Heaven who has a plan for us. Use us, I pray, for all that we can give. Equip us today to spread Your word to all the corners of the Earth. Let us not hide You from others and let our light so shine. You can use each and every one of us; no one is less than another. We are all equal in Your eyes, Lord. Thank You for loving all Your creation from the inside out.
In Your name we pray,
Amen
Workhorse (Adam) 