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 see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV
Many hours of my life have been lived in daydreams. As a child I remember spending entire afternoons gazing through the tiny holes of the screen on my bedroom window. I’m slightly more aware of this occurrence as an adult but the chance of getting lost in my thoughts still calls to me from time to time.
Recently I found myself outside staring up at the trees as they slow danced with the wind. I think someone was with me talking about important grownup things, but I was lost in the branches. In a moment of clarity I recognized that my eyes were only drawn to the bright white leaves. These are the ones on the outskirts, gathering warm sunshine. Even though they were a good distance away, I could see so much of their detail…I could see through them.
I forced myself to shift and look at those leaves all jumbled together in the shadows. It was hard to make them out. They looked less like individual leaves and more like solid clumps of dark green. It was impossible to see their outlines much less to see through them.
When we have the light of life—the light of Lord God shining through us, I think it is as obvious as the difference in these leaves I just attempted to describe. We are in the world, but not of the world… we are on the outskirts of sorts. We are vulnerable to outside elements because we aren’t hunkered down so tightly to those we surround ourselves by that the beginning of one and the end of another is blurry.
However, as Christians in the modern Church, we get distracted with the shininess of our outward appearance. We are shiny but don’t forget why. We are to bring life. We are to shine the Light to the dark places—the solid clumps of dark green. Mind the state of your heart. It is meant to be translucent so we can be used by God. Be shiny for Him!