In 1 Samuel 15 we read about God rejecting Saul as the king of the Israelites. Saul had failed to follow God's instructions so He decided there had to be a new king. In chapter 16, Samuel is sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the new king. The first one Samuel saw as Eliab, and he figured that must be who God chose. But God had someone else in mind and chose David.

The reason why Samuel thought Eliab was the one was because he apparently looked good and was tall. A lot of times we do the same thing; base our opinion of someone on what we can see. We see the clothes they are wearing, hear the music they listen to, any tattoos or piercings, the car they drive, etc. and base our opinion on that. We go to their house and determine how good their family is by how nice or messy it is. Even if we don't consciously do any of this, in the back of our minds we are forming an opinion of that person.

God doesn't work like that. He looks at what is inside. He looks at our heart. He doesn't care if we have a nice clean home or a messy one. He doesn't care if we have a ton of piercings or tattoos. He doesn't care what kind of car we drive. He cares about whether we have repented of our sins and made a choice to follow Him.

So what should we do? Get to know that person you might not otherwise talk to based on how they look. They might surprise you. As Bob Beeman wrote in the Metal Devo "We all have something to add to this great mix of people we call "Christians” Even if they might not look like it.

Blessings,

Pastor Ryan Canaday