We look on the outside—God looks on the heart

1 Samuel 16:1-7
1 The Lord said to Samuel, . . . “I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king. . . . 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” 5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1耶和華對撒母耳說、…我差遣你往伯利恆人耶西那裡去、因為我在他眾子之內、豫定一個作王的。…3你要請耶西來喫祭肉、我就指示你所當行的事、我所指給你的人你要膏他。4撒母耳就照耶和華的話去行．到了伯利恆、那城裡的長老都戰戰兢兢的出來迎接他、問他說、你是為平安來的麼．5他說、為平安來的．我是給耶和華獻祭．你們當自潔、來與我同喫祭肉．撒母耳就使耶西和他眾子自潔、請他們來喫祭肉。6他們來的時候、撒母耳看見以利押、就心裡說、耶和華的受膏者必定在他面前。7耶和華卻對撒母耳說、不要看他的外貌和他身材高大、我不揀選他、因為耶和華不像人看人、人是看外貌、耶和華是看內心。

• 看到撒母耳的舉動，真是會心微笑，原來他和平常人沒兩樣，都是以外表作為判定人的第一印象，他看見利押就以為他必是受膏者。我們何嘗不是這樣，以貎取人，忽略了身邊不起眼的人，他們的需要，他們的努力，可能因我的忽視或莫視而受到傷害，神啊，讓我更多關心那些無言的朋友，就算他們沒有主動親近我，我亦要主動親近他們。
• 當神是看內心，不是看外貎時，更加警愓我所做的每件事不是取悅人，做了基督這麼多年，很容易將「事奉」做得很perfect，得人的稱讚，人們還以為我很多恩賜，多麼屬靈，但自己知自己事，神亦知道我的靈命道行，我的忠心，我擺上的時間，讓我的事奉，我對別人的關心，我帶領的聚會是用「心」去做，不論「表現」如何，而不是用「表現」去做，一點「心」也沒有！