“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” -1 Samuel 16:7
It should come as no surprise to us that the LORD chose for Jesus to be raised in the relative obscurity of the “underdog town” of Nazareth. After all, throughout Scripture we see that the LORD values different qualities than fallen humanity does.
In our culture and world, we ascribe the greatest value to the “top dog”. Generally speaking, we admire and promote those individuals with an extra measure of physical good looks, charm, charisma, self-confidence, chemistry in their relationships, and competence in their chosen field. The plain and outwardly less appealing individuals are easily missed and even ignored in favour of the ‘shining stars’.
When Samuel went to Bethlehem to search for the next king of Israel, the Holy Spirit led him to the household of Jesse. Samuel sense that one of Jesse’s sons was to be anointed as king. As they were being introduced to him, the young man called Eliab caught his eye. He was evidently tall and good-looking. “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” (v.7)
It turned out that the person the LORD had His eye on for leadership was the youngest son, who was out in the fields guarding the sheep and singing praise to God. His name was David. For the LORD, the inner life of someone’s relationship with HIM and the way that relationship impacts their inner character is far, far more important than the superficial qualities we humans tend to overvalue. God looks much deeper than we do.
From a human point of view, Bethlehem or Jerusalem would have been the right places for Jesus to be educated and trained as the King of God’s people. But God chose to have Jesus raised in Nazareth, where a tight-knit community and a small local synagogue in a hard-working “blue collar” sort of town would grow His character and the depth of His relationships with God and others. So when Nathanael later asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” the unspoken answer from God would have been, “Not only good – the best! Stop being so superficial, Nathanael. Look deeper. Look at the heart!”
Heavenly Father, forgive me for overvaluing the outward appearance of competence, chemistry and charisma while undervaluing the inner life of spirituality and character. In my own life and the lives of others, help me to prioritise the inner life of connection with You, and the outworking of that relationship in Christlike character and fruit. Amen
Dave's Diary 
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