THE HEART

When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. 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 16:6-7  (NLT)

This passage reveals what is most important to God.  God cares most about our hearts, the condition of our hearts!  His thoughts and ways are different from ours.  Don’t we, as humans, often put our emphasis on our looks, careers, how much money we have, or compare ourselves to others? 

God is telling us the outward things about us do not matter to Him. 

 

 

 

Is our heart hardened to God?

Is our heart full of God’s love and goodness?

Is our heart full of pride and sin?

 

Do our actions reflect a heart of love or of a corrupt one?

Do we love God and people more than material things?

Do we try to live a moral life to honor God?

Do we serve others with joy?

Do we help the poor and the marginalized?

 

The saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” literally hit home for me and goes along with the Scripture story. 

We should remember the contents and message of a book is more important than the look of the cover.

 

Photo courtesy of Leonard J Matthews under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

 

You can probably envision my enthusiasm and excitement when I opened my first shipment of 100 copies of my published book.  When I did, my heart sank, as the cover was not quite the same as the official copy I received.  The sun on the cover had a green glow around it instead of a yellow one.

I was excited to get copies into the hands of people, and I wanted the cover to display the beautiful picture I knew it was supposed to be.  To make matters worse, when I called the printing company, they said the cover would be corrected and would expedite the order to me.  An email a few days later negated that offer, so I was stuck with the green glow books as they refused to make it right.

People tried to encourage me by sharing the significance of the color green in the Bible.  Green is related to praise, growth, prosperity, new beginnings, restoration, harmony, and everlasting life.  Green is also the color of nature at its finest and symbolic of resurrection, which we see each spring. Some people did not notice the green glow when looking at the cover, especially since they didn’t know what it was supposed to look like. One said when taking a picture of the sun, a green glow is often present. I was grateful for the encouragement, which I needed to be reminded of.

 

Photo courtesy of Leonard J Matthews under Creative Commons License (CC BY-ND 2.0)

 

Here is my inspiration for us both this week with reflecting on our hearts which God values the most~

Take time to consider the condition of your heart~

 Make sure your actions reflect a healthy heart. Work on your heart if it does not match up with God’s Word. 

 

Don’t judge people by their physical appearance~

Seek to emulate God’s love by looking at people’s hearts, not their outward appearance. 

 

Seek out people’s hearts~

Take time to get to know people, understand them, and see what kind of fruit their lives produce. 

 

With an open heart, walk in love and focus on the hearts of those in your path.

 

My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words.  Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;  for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.  –Proverbs 4:20-23  (NIV)