My Shiny Red Car

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

When I was 16, my father took me shopping for my first car. With $1,200 burning a hole in my pocket, we set out to peruse the used car lots in the metropolis of Sioux Falls. We came across a lot of practical options as my dad inquired about things like gas mileage and reliability. When, however, we found a car that looked really cool and was within my price range, I fell in love. It was a Ford EXP – a poor man’s Mustang – and it looked like a sports car. It wasn’t. It was basically a Ford Escort, marketed to people like me, who didn’t know any better. We just looked at it and said, Shiny. Red. I want one. Only months later did I realize that it really wasn’t a very good car and that I’d been duped by its exterior. On car-buying-day though, things like gas mileage, reliability, and no back seat didn’t matter. I gazed upon the exterior, not knowing or caring what lay underneath, and I wanted it.

Though it applies to people, not cars, this is the lesson of today’s passage. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. In the story, God sent Samuel to find a new king to replace Saul. Traveling to Bethlehem, Samuel met Jesse, who presented his seven sons. The first son appeared kingly – tall, dark, handsome – and Samuel assumed that he’d found his man. God though, measures men differently. Rejecting tall, dark, and handsome, God chose David, the eighth and youngest brother, whom no one else had even considered. God looked past the superficial and saw in David the king that he would become.

Like Samuel, I often look only at the exterior. Though I’ve not consciously asked if a person is worth my time, I’ve divided people up in my mind, usually based on appearance. On this scale, those who appear to be more attractive, successful, or popular are more valuable than those who’re unattractive, poor, or unpopular. In judging people this way, God says I’ve got it all backwards.

I’m not very good at this yet, but I am learning to see people as God sees them. I don’t want to continue to make the mistake I made with my car, looking only at the exterior. I’d like to learn to value those things that truly matter. I want to see people as God sees them. So, daily, I pray that I would value the things that God values, looking not at the outward appearance, but looking instead, at the heart.