Are You Looking at the Heart?

"The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. "
1 Samuel 16:7, NLT

This scripture was in my InBox this morning - I love how God works in my life, He never ceases to amaze me! I have had two encounters this week, just on this topic. First, I was having a conversation about how we are all quick to judge by outward appearance and when we first meet someone we think, she's pretty or he's handsome and start judging them before they speak a word. I'm guilty of judging the way people dress, talk, etc and sometimes catch myself getting caught up in the whole physical appearance. Second, I was sent an email story about a man who found some clay balls in a discarded sack on the beach. He examined them quickly, and looking at the roughness and wear decided they were just 'clay balls'. He started throwing them into the ocean one by one. As he was about to throw one of the last balls over the crashing waves, he dropped it on the sand and it broke open to reveal a valuable jewel. How sad he was when he realized he just threw away half of the treasure he found because he only saw what was on the outside! How many people have we tossed away because they didn't meet our 'physical' or outward appearance requirements? How many experiences have we missed out on because we didn't get to know someone better?

May we all take a moment when we have the opportunity to meet someone and get to know them for who they are and not how they look. Let's not judge and try to see the person as our loving Father would, as a treasure, a beautiful gem and valuable jewel!