What does God see?

 

Image is everything! I still believe that slogan to the old Canon (or was it Minolta) commercial with Andre Agassi holds true today…And from reading the Scripture this week, it apparently held true yesterday as well. This week I read the story of the calling of David in 1 Samuel 16. The story goes that God had lost his patience with King Saul and was taking the kingship of Israel away from him and bestowing it upon another. The prophet Samuel is instructed to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to find this new king. Samuel goes to Bethlehem, has an "invitation-only" worship service where he invites Jesse and the clan. The family comes in and Samuel is immediately drawn to Eliab. Maybe it's because he's the oldest. Maybe it's because he's tall or attractive. But something about Eliab led Samuel to believe he was the one that was to be the next king. But God has a way of shattering our belief in appearances and image. He tells Samuel literally, "God does not see what man sees." As I look at my life, I wonder what does God see? On the outside, I'm a good churchgoing person who tries to live a moral life. I certainly have the appearance of a good Christian. But I struggle in my heart with extreme selfishness and lust, attributes that I'm able to hide from the world with some degree of success. As I look at the church, I wonder what does God see? Does he see a church more concerned with image and appearances than with spiritual growth? Does he see a church that is busy with everything except kingdom building? God does not see what man can see nor can man even begin to see what God sees. God saw the next king of Israel in a "ruddy" shepherd boy named David, the son that Jesse didn't even bother to bring. When he looks into your life, I wonder what will God see?