Thoughts for another day

Aug. 5, 2009

Today's verse: 1 Sa. 16:7. for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

I heard this amazing story some days back. The new president of the country was sitting on the occasion of the national day. His ministers brought forward ten prisoners, of which, the one he chose according to the law he had formulated, would be released. One by one the he saw the men. He then told them to bring one man forward. As he was brought forward, the president got up, went to one unkempt man with dirty clothes and looked at him closely. Suddenly he grasped his hand and embraced him.

Between the two they exchanged some sentences rapidly and both were crying and embracing each other. After some time, the president came forward bringing the man and told the shocked crowd, ‘If today I am the President, it is because of this man.’ ‘Long ago, when I was little, I was hungry and about to rob a store, when this man also of my age caught me. He told me not to rob and he helped me with the little money he got for food, education and everything else and always propped me up telling me that one day I would become great. The most important thing he told me is that he had faith in me. I came from a very very poor family yet what this man told me struck me…he had faith in me! It was the first time someone told me such a thing and I decided to work hard, very hard and today I have become something. The shocked people asked him how he recognized the man after so many years and he said, ‘I looked at his eyes. Everything else about him has changed but his eyes, they’re the same!’

My friend, long before you came to be on earth, you were before God and even today, you’re the same before Him. Your heart which provides your character, is sheathed with the outer earthen vessel, yet it is the same and God looks at your heart. No matter the years that go by, your heart doesn’t change and He will recognize you by your heart. If He has seen you as a crook, your outward pretenses will not color what He has seen. They may fool men, but not God. And likewise, if your heart is seen by Him to be good, no matter what ditch life has cast you in, you still are pure in His sight.