Worthless

Scripture:
1 Samuel 16:6-13 (NASB)

When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’S anointed is before Him.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 

So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Devotional:

If you have ever gone shopping for a car you know you cannot trust what the outside of the car looks like.  Unless you are a mechanic you can look at the car, check different things on it.  You look under the hood and underneath it.  You want to make sure it is a good solid dependable car.  You look into the history of the car making sure there were no accidents.  Another item to take note on is whether it has repeated repairs on the same parts.  For example does it go through transmissions or wear out the brakes really fast.  My parents onetime had a Fiat X-19.  It was a cute little two seater.  However, it went through brakes constantly, worse than most cars.  When buying a car you know what to look for and what to avoid.  But it wasn’t always like that.  When you were young, maybe even just a kid you looked at a car and thought it was cool.  You fell in love with the way it looked.  Never mind how it handled or was good on gas.  You fell in love with a car because you liked the way it looked and on the outside it was perfect.

How many times do we look at people the same way?  We see the surface and think they are useless or worthless.  Man is that person is a real bum.  She is no good, nothing but trouble.  Everyone looked at David as a small “ruddy boy.”  Surely he isn’t the one God would choose.  After all look at Saul in comparison.  God, however, chose to look beyond the physical appearances of David.  He looked deep into David.  God found David’s worth, which went deeper than outward appearances.  The good news for all of us is God does the same for us.  He looks past our outward appearances.  He looks past our failures and limitations.  He sees us for who we really are.  As a matter of fact He uses our weaknesses for His greater good.  God looks at the total package and comes up with a value so high that He sent His Son to redeem us.  The next time you think you are worthless or no good remember that God doesn’t think so.  He also doesn’t think that person you think is worthless is either…