Beautiful People ... Or Are They?

The Lancaster newspaper runs a column on their back page under the heading "People." Today's column featured three brief articles. One sketched country singer Randy Travis' serious heart condition. He is currently listed in critical condition in a Texas hospital. The second story was all about recording artist Elton John's diagnosis of appendicitis. The third featured 27 year old actress Amanda Byne's court appearance on allegations that she threw a marijuana bong out of her 36th floor Manhattan apartment (why throw anything out of a 36 floor apartment, let alone a marijuana bong!). Did you catch the common denominator of these three people? They are all "rich and famous." Not surprising, though! Why would anyone want to read about Joe Plumber's ailing kidney? I mean .... could you imagine a television show featuring the guy at Walmart who greets you as you enter the store? Hardly! We are a culture that is mesmerized by the celebrities in our midst. And that, quite frankly, is sad!

God does not view celebrities in the same way as we do. In fact, he looks at people in general very differently than we do. In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, the prophet Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to anoint the man who was to follow Saul as Israel's king. When Eliab, Jesses' oldest son passed in front of the prophet, Samuel was convinced that Eliab was God's man. But God had other ideas as he 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 God looks at people, he does not see rich or poor, famous or obscure, tall or short, educated or uneducated. Rather he looks at our hearts! SOOO ... with that in mind, when God looks at your heart, what does he see? It may be that you need to do some summer "heart" cleaning. Spend some time before God. Ask him to search your heart and show you what needs to change. Follow David's practice as revealed in Psalm 139:23-24 (David was chosen, by the way to follow King Saul on Israel's throne because he had a heart that hungered for God [Acts 13:22]). Then claim God's promise as stated in 1 John 1:9. You and those around you will be better for it! And God will be glorified (Joshua 7:19).

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj