Heart


"When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, 'Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord.' But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:6-7

My athletic prowess peaked in elementary school. Once 7th grade hit, my glory days were over. As a skinny little kid, I would get picked near the end of the team selection process and I loved it. Why? Because it wouldn't take me long to prove that I should have been picked first. During a 3rd grade kickball game, my first at bat was a home run to the surprise of everyone. Ah ... those were the days.  

Physical appearance, social status, and socioeconomic position are the things our culture tends to look at for significance and potential to accomplish great things. As we read our story from thousands of years ago, we see that not much has changed. Samuel was sure this big, strapping, and handsome young man was the next king. It turned out it was his much younger and littler brother. The difference? Heart.

If we aren't careful, we can drift into the same kind of thinking. We must be vigilant to avoid simply defaulting to the perspective of the world around us. We need truth like this story reveals to reorient our thinking to a divine perspective. In God's economy, character, integrity, and genuineness trump a well-ordered external facade. It's time for all of us to undergo a serious heart check.

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