The Lord looketh on the heart, but what can I see?

Hello and welcome.

I'm blogging again.

I've decided that I'm going to study out a spiritual question(s) each week and then blog about it.

The question(s): How do I know if I am being sincere in my spiritual endeavors? How do I know if I have real intent in my heart when I pray, study, renew, or, repent? 

Here's what I've learned.

1 Samuel 16:7, that is where that scripture is found. In this story, Samuel had the task of searching out the king whom God had chosen. Jesse (as in "the rod of Jesse") presents his sons to Samuel, who is to bring about the will of God. This is where the story gets interesting.

Imagine if you will, a man being told "One of your sons is the man whom God has chosen to rule his people." Don't you think that this man would start with the one that he thought would be most fitting? And what if you were the person giving the "yes" or "no", don't you think that you would be influenced in some measure by your own thoughts and ideals?

The way picture it is this: Jesse's son, Eliab to see Samuel. Samuel thinks something along the lines of "well, he looks like he could be king." Maybe he was tall and strong. But the Lord says this to Him...

"Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

God taught Samuel, and is teaching us that the way that a person looks does not give an accurate representation of how they stand before the Lord. Our value to Him is beyond our physical appearance. It lies within our hearts. That is why the questions for this week were important to me. God doesn't really care whether I wear my hair curly or whether my foundation matches my skin tone perfectly. He cares about whether I've made a real change in my heart. My hope is that that is what I will value most as well.

To be continued...