Beautiful Word Devotional #209

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

Samuel was on a mission from God: he was to go to the family of Jesse and anoint the son whom the Lord instructed him to name as king over Israel.

So the prophet Samuel looked over the sons of Jesse, and God selected . . . none of them. Only when the prophet asked Jesse if he had any other sons did Samuel learn that David, the youngest, was out in the fields tending sheep. At Samuel’s instruction, Jesse summoned David, and when David came in, God let Samuel know that he would be Israel’s next king.

What message does God have for us in this story? One takeaway is this: we live in a world hyper-obsessed with appearance. Only certain people have “the look,” and only they “win” at life. On the outside they may indeed look like they have everything, but God looks at the heart and measures character.

Lord, please help me keep my heart pure and wholly devoted to you, amen.