12 JUL 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional
“But the Lord said to Samuel, Don’t judge by 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 16:7
I remember as a child playing pick-up games at school or in the neighborhood. There would be that awkward moment when all the kids are gathered together to be selected for each team. The captains would scan the crowd and size up each kid to see if they were worthy to be on their team. You would think they were the general manager for the NFL or something.
In their mind, they had a standard or metric that they desired to have in a player. Tall or big or fast or friend, that would fit the bill as a player. All of us judge a book by its cover whether in business, politics, or personal life. We look at surface metrics to determine the leader or soulmate we would like. There is more to a person than that.
Samuel, a Prophet of God, was tasked to find a new king for Israel since Saul had become an offense to God. Samuel was directed to the family of Jesse. There he would find the new king and anoint him for this role. Samuel scanned the crowd of sons and began to size them up based on his own standards. He saw one right away that met his required metrics and said “Surely this is the one!” God said, nope!
Samuel then ran through all seven sons and none of those were acceptable to God. There was one more son, David, who was out caring for the sheep. When he arrived, Samuel saw a young man who was handsome, but not what he expected. He would be the last one chosen for kickball. God told Samuel that he looks at people differently than man does. God looks at the heart, not the physical metrics. The truth is God forms leaders and places them in power. Some are placed for our benefit and others for our judgment.
What standard do you use to size up people?
Reading Plan: Psalm 119:1-24; 1 Sam. 16:1-13; Acts 10:1-16; Luke. 24:12-35
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