Outside vs. Inside
By
Tracy Smith
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
Samuel 16:7 (NIV)
Two years ago, two different doctors looked
at the mole on my husband’s back and declared it nothing to worry about, it
looked fine. The dermatologist offered to take it off because it was big and
could catch on things. The surprising diagnosis came back a week later: basal
cell carcinoma. Something that looked okay on the outside was, in fact,
something ugly when the inside was inspected under a microscope. He needed to
make a trip back to the doctor in order to make sure they got all of
the cancer out; otherwise, the cancer would grow back.
We, like the doctor, look at the outside of
a person in order to try to judge the inside. Like the doctor, we can be wrong;
the outside can deceive. God looks to the inside. He knows that the inside is
what shows a person’s true heart. The Lord knows how good we are at “prettying
up” what is, in fact, quite ugly.
If we look to the inside of ourselves and
find something ugly, we need to be open to cleaning it all out
of our heart in order to make sure it does not return. Psalm 139:23-24 (MSG
paraphrase) says, “Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for
yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong - - then guide me on the road to
eternal life.” This verse is about asking God to show you any
“cancer” that resides inside you and asking the Great Physician to heal you!
While regular trips to the dermatologist for
skin checks are in my husband’s future, we all need to make sure we are making
regular trips to the Great Physician for a heart check!
GOING DEEPER
1. What kinds of things do you do to “pretty
up” what is in your heart?
2. What actions can you take, with God’s
help, to clean it up?
FURTHER READING
Along with being a wife and mother to two
boys, Tracy is an administrative assistant at Oakwood, serves on the Women’s
Ministry Special Events Team and leads a great group of Junior High girls.
