Internal Matters

There’s a new house in the neighborhood. With a one-man construction crew, the progress is slow. Finally, he installed the door and the siding. Two stories, with lots of paned windows and a wide front porch, it is a simple style that fits the modest neighborhood. I do wish, though, the siding and the door were not shades of beige.   

Spoken by someone whose house is gray trimmed with fuchsia. The dull-colored house is several blocks away. Thankfully, I don’t see it often. Does he feel safer with beige? I don’t begrudge him that. I need to feel safe, too. But color enlivens me. And God doesn’t care—he likes us both.

Do you like pastels, or jewel tones? Ruffles or tailored suits? Chains and leather or lace and linen? Our external preferences don’t matter to God; what matters is our inner self. Are our hearts soft, our eyes clear, our minds the mind of Christ? Does God even see the beige or the fuchsia?

When the prophet Samuel went to see Jesse to anoint the next king of Israel, the prophet sees Jesse’s son, Eliab, a man of impressive appearance and height. But he is not the one. God says to Samuel, “People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel, 16:7, Net)

This neighbor has a beige house—that’s all I know, and truthfully, all I care about. God knows the color of the man’s home; but God’s focus is the man’s heart.   

Father, I confess my preoccupation with externals. I need your forgiveness. Thank you that you deal with truth in our innermost parts.