Highly Valued!

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 people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  1^st Samuel 16:7

How many of you reading this truly value yourself?  I’ll wager not many.  We begin twisting toys out of our siblings’ hands at age two, and tend toward tantrums or tears if we don’t get our way. Most of us are very aware of where we fall short.

From an early age, though, we’re taught that giving first consideration to ourselves is selfish. While it can be true, there is a time it is not, for we are made in the image of God Himself.

What does it mean to be made in the image of God?  Like God, we are interpersonal beings.  We are relational, intelligent, and with the moral capacity to discern and choose what is right. Animals do not have that ability.  Instinct doesn’t tell Simba on the Savannah to eat the poacher and spare the game warden.  There is no moral choice with either person. Both are fair game.

When God said, “Let us make man in our own image,” (Genesis1:26), He wasn’t speaking to the angels, for nowhere in Scripture does it say man was made in the image of angels, nor that they assisted in Creation, only that they sang together and shouted for joy when it was done (Job 38:7).

Let me speak of how God sees you personally.  He sees your heart, whether you love Him or not.  He sees the real you, and the real you is to die for (Romans 5:8). So, why should we reject God’s image?  The image you are made in?  When we do not love ourselves as God does, made in His image, nothing else can be truly loved.

In choosing a new king, Samuel checked out all seven of David’s older brothers. They impressed him with the outward appearances of strength and good looks. With each one he thought Surely this is the one the LORD has chosen. But God told him He did not judge by appearance, but the heart. Jesses had eight sons, and the youngest was in the pasture shepherding sheep. And it was David, the runt of the litter, He had chosen.  He called the one with the smell of the herd still on his clothing.

God was not demeaning Jesse’s sons for not being created in His image, for all men and women are.  He was only saying that the attitudes of their hearts were barriers to using them in that position.  David was the one found worthy to wear the crown, for he was a man after God’s own heart (1^st Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22).

God doesn’t underestimate your value, and neither should you. He sees that your worth is of the highest value. You may feel like you carry a slight smell of sheep, but He doesn’t smell it.  He looks inwardly and sees the heart of a monarch. Highly valued. Embrace that and live it this week!  Have a great one.

Ken