We all know the lesson, but it bears repeating. As Samuel examined a line of tall, strong, strapping young men, anxious to anoint the next king, he heard a whisper:

Do not consider his appearance or his height. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

What’s inside matters most. At least that’s what I tell myself, and I told my kids and I teach to students. But I’m easily impressed by outward appearances.

I notice how people dress (Boulder, Colorado, near where I live, may be the worst-dressed city in America). I notice hair styles and hair colors. More and more I notice tattoos. People tattoo themselves as a form of self-expression, but I see some poor design choices. I notice the cars people drive. Yesterday a big truck pulling a killer ski boat passed down my street—I noticed.

But God isn’t impressed. By going below the surface and giving attention to my heart, I develop in areas most central to the Lord. I can do something about that.

Surface decorations fade, clothes go out of style, tattoos sag. It’s incredibly freeing to realize none of this matters to God. As we pay less attention to external appearances and more attention to the heart, our souls flourish and shine.

A lesson I need to review over and over.

1 Samuel 16 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Dingzeyu Li

When you visit certain theme parks and pay extra, you receive a pass that lets you skip the lines. We call ahead to a busy restaurant, making a reservation and ensuring a table waits for us when we arrive. In busy stores I connive to move to the front of the line. I prefer a favored status, a fast-pass through Walmart.

God started to change Peter’s misconceptions of favorites through dreams. After meeting believers in the house of Cornelius, a godly Roman centurion, Peter exclaimed: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

No favored status exists with the Lord, but no outsider status exists either. A godly lineage is awesome, but what have you decided for yourself? Raised by scoundrels? The Lord welcomes you with open arms. We each choose on our own.

It matters not your nationality or your ethnicity. In heaven we’ll meet people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation—every ethnos.

What matters is that we fear the Lord and do what is right. A good prescription for living in this world, and for joining the heavenly throng to come.

Acts 10 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Madeleine Maguire

In his parting speech to the nation he led for many years, Samuel made an intriguing statement about prayer:

Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.

As Samuel stepped aside for Israel’s first king, he choose to underscore prayer as his key contribution to the nation’s flourishing. Not his years of hard-earned wisdom, or a pledge of all his worldly goods. Rather, intensive prayer on their behalf.

Samuel held himself accountable. To fail put him wrong before the Lord. Samuel walked in a most intimate way with God for years and years, and possessed unusual insight into divine workings. Thanks to his experiences Samuel understood the vital power and significance of prayer.

Samuel’s words remind me that prayer is more than a good idea as I also attempt to walk with God. Focused prayer unlocks doors to deeper, richer faith, even if I only scratch the surface in my feeble attempts.

But feeble is fine when the object of our prayers in the Lord. He multiplies whatever we offer. I only junk the process by refusing to pray. Lean into praying for family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and the world around us. Perhaps the Lord waits for us to move our prayer life from advisable to vital.

I Samuel 12 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Silas Köhler

In the economy of the Lord, wealth and status and size really don’t matter. Take as an example the calling of Saul as the first king of Israel. Approached by Samuel the prophet, Saul responded:

But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin?

The smallest and the least. That’s where the Lord goes to work. Bigger, stronger brothers overshadowed David. Servants pulled Moses from the waters. A teenager gave birth to the Savior. Faith the size of a tiny mustard seed moves mountains.

The Lord upends conventional thinking. Slow beginnings mean nothing. Smallest and least doesn’t bother the Lord at all. Keep that in mind, then take courage and keep the faith.

1 Samuel 9 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Brigitta Baranyi