Verse of the Day - 1 Samuel 16:7

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
~ 1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT)

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(I just wrote on this verse three months ago, it popping up from another source. Gee, do you think perhaps God is saying we need another reminder about how we view people?)

The beautiful people of this world seem to have it made. They get the perks in life...access to leaders in business, backstage in entertainment, personal attention from us. Attractive people go places, do things, have stuff, meet people. But what is going on on the inside of those people? Do they have anything going for them that speaks of good character, or godly desires?

Of course, many do...I'm not collectively bashing beautiful people, by any means. But even my daughter has noticed that good-looking boys are often shallow people, and end up being jerks that you don't really want to date. She realizes that the good-looking ones haven't had to develop character for interpersonal relationships, because so many people are drawn to their good looks, like a bug to a bug zapper.

I think that most people would say that, when you get right down to it, a person's heart and character are what's most important. But we're so often either entranced with the beautiful exterior, or put off by what we consider disgusting or otherwise unacceptable, that we don't get to the inside. That's why God asks us to rely on Him when we look at people. Get His perspective.

In the Disney movie Aladdin, Aladdin is a street kid with no family and no money. He "steals what he can't afford" and "stays one jump ahead of the lawmen". The town folk call him riff-raff and a street rat, like vermin that needs to be stamped out. But at the end of the day, as he begins to chomp on a stolen loaf of bread with his monkey sidekick, Abu, he laments...

riff raff
street rat
I don't buy that
if only they'd look closer
would they see a poor boy? no, siree
they'd see there's so much more to me...

...and he shows what's on the inside by giving his bread away to two small street kids digging through the garbage, looking so very hungry. Abu balks at the decision to be kind, when their own stomachs are growling, but Aladdin's heart makes the godly decision.

...man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart.

Today, I pray we can see to the inside of people, the way God does...

Help us, Lord, to peel off the layers that people put on (good or bad, pretty or ugly) and give us eyes to see who people really are, to value what's on the inside instead of being content to judge people on the visible. You are interested in the hearts and minds of people. Help us to make that our focus, too. Amen.

Love,
Joelene