Daily Devotion With Pastor Dan – October 8th, 2020
(1 Samuel 16:7)…..But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not seeas man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
When Samuel was sent to anoint the new king of Israel, he learned that God’s measure of a person was different than man’s. God hasn’t changed His ways in this at all. As a matter of fact, He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His measure of a Christian is much different than what we see in some places of Christianity today. We often measure Christians (their spirituality) by things that God may not hold as important as other areas. Men/women are considered strong Christians if they sing, pray, help serve, teach a class, preach a sermon, attend every church function, etc. Or if they are successful in the business world, certainly they qualify as a good Christian, who ought to be in charge of something within the Church.
The problem is, people can do all these things and still be spiritually destitute on the inside. What then should be the measure of a strong Christian? Time in God’s word
The measure of a strong Christian is one who is led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:1-2) (Galatians 5:22-23). Now one who is truly “spiritual” will certainly be involved in various “activities” of the church (Galatians 6:1-2), and should be, but this requires that the “inner man” be changed (Colossians 3:12-17) (1 Timothy 6:11-12) (2 Timothy 2:22-26). We see each other only for a short time each week so it is easy to put on a front, to pretend, to be something we are not. But the Lord sees us as we really are (2 Chronicles 16:9). What is He looking for in us? I think (Isaiah 66:1-2) gives us great insight into this. Today, may we find in us a contrite (humble) heart and a great reverance for His word. These are just some brief thoughts I wanted to share with you today. Have a great day in our Lord.