That Certain Something

This business of being self-appointed judges as to what is or not beautiful in others has always been with us and shows no signs of quick demise. People do observe and judge one another's appearance, though this might well be done unconsciously.

Tell me, what is the first thing you notice about someone to whom you are being introduced?
"It varies with the individual. " you answer.
Yes, it could be the sheen of her hair, the mod look, or her smiling eyes. True, but don't theses answers boil down to one general term - appearance? How one looks?

Some people, like my friend Dorothy, have the faculty to recall with almost photographic accuracy a person's features and the complete outfit she was wearing. Many of us remember only the general impression(neat, faultlessly groomed, tacky, coordinated colors.) But everyone remembers something about the way others look.

The old saying that man looks at the outward appearance but God looks on the heart could be passed off as an innocuous truism heard from early childhood; or this thought could cause one to do a double take...reach for one's Bible...and thoughtfully read 1 Samuel 16:7:" The Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

This says to me, "You, my child, are open to double scrutiny from - from people and from God. People are looking at you."

And so, in a few meditative moments, this common place verse can metamorphize : People are watching me, God is watching me. I am important!

You are being observed : the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk. God is watching you, the real you, the unvarnished, down deep you. You are important!

Think of all the people during Christ's life here who looked at him. Yet all of his eighteen busy years between the time he was twelve and thirty were compressed into one simple sentence:

Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man(Luke 2L52)

Here we have another verse that bears meditation. Jesus increased in :
wisdom(intellectually)
stature(physically)
favor with God(spiritually)
favor with man(socially)

If God the Father thought it important for his Son to increase in each of these specific areas, important enough to have it recorded in His written Word, who are we to feel ourselves exempt from growth in any one of theses areas?

by Marjorie Frost