Jan 8 - Deuteronomy 7:7-8

 

It was not because

you were more numerous

than any other people that

the Lord set his heart

on you and chose you—

for you were the fewest

of all peoples.

It was because

the Lord loved you.

Deuteronomy 7:7-8

 

Do you remember when the prophet Samuel was called to anoint Israel’s new king?

 

God directed Samuel to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem. When Samuel spied Jesse’s eldest son, he was certain that this young man must be the future king. Eliab was tall. And handsome. He looked like a king. And Samuel thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord” (1 Sam 16:6).

 

“’7 But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 

 

Seven sons passed before Samuel – each younger, and (from human point of view) less kingly than the first. But God, again, rejected each of these.

 

Finally Samuel asked Jesse is there were any more sons. Jesse said, “11 There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.”

 

The youngest son’s name was David. He was the one God had chosen. He was the one to be the anointed. The Lord had clearly looked not on David’s outward appearance, but on the boy’s heart.

 

In our lesson from Deuteronomy today, God is helping Israel decipher why he had chosen them. Like Eliab and the next seven sons, it was because of how “big” they were. It had nothing, indeed, to do with outward appearance. Why did God choose Israel? Apparently for the same reason he chose David: He looked on their heart and “loved [them].”

 

If you and I look at ourselves from a worldly perspective, there’s always someone taller, faster, smarter, more musical, more mechanical, better at math, and more handsome than we are. We need to quit looking at ourselves with Junior High eyes and Middle School insecurities. God loves us … because he loves us. Grace means: Without any merit or worthiness on our part. He loves us because he loves us.

 

He loves you.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy whose name

is beloved