Israel and Righteousness

I have just a few words today about the things that catch the attention of people, as opposed to the things that catch the attention of God. We need look no further than to one of the mightiest prophets of God in the history of the world, to see what I'm talking about. Samuel was the greatest man of God in the earth when he was living, but he learned a very valuable lesson from God when he was sent to Bethlehem anoint the next king of Israel: "And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (I Sam. 16:5-7). I think we all know the rest of that story, but the point has been sufficiently made. It's very simple, just like God told Samuel. Man's attention is mainly caught by the things he can see, or that he can access through his five senses. God's attention is caught by the hearts of men. He is interested in what is going on inside a person, more than what is going on with someone externally. That reality stretches well beyond just external appearances of people. It also goes to external actions of people often being something different than the reality of what their heart is. The Pharisees of Jesus' day judged everyone, including themselves, by the outward appearance. Jesus straightly instructed us to not do that: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (Jn. 7:24).

When a woman came into a place where Jesus was dining with Pharisees, and bowed at his feet to wash them with her tears, and dry them with her hair; all the Pharisees saw was a woman who was known for her sins, being gladly received by this great prophet [as they supposed]. But Jesus saw the heart of the woman, and the heart of the woman was clearly expressed by how she dealt with Jesus. Jesus also made it clear to the legalistic Pharisees that this woman loved him more than they did, and he forgave all her sins right there in their sight, to their disdain (Lk. 7:36-50). Another stellar indication of this powerful truth is the birth of Jesus, and the people that God chose to be his parents in the earth. It is not widely spoken of so much, but Joseph and Mary were people who were quite insignificant in Israel. We know this in part because of Mary's salutation when she was visited by her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist: "For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Lk. 1:48). We also know that they were from Nazareth, of which one of the chosen twelve apostles had said, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (Jn. 1:46) But God saw something in the hearts of both Joseph and Mary that told him that they would be the most qualified people on earth to raise his only begotten Son in this world. I would say that's pretty high qualifications, wouldn't you?. Not only so, but when the time came for Jesus to be born, it was no accident or coincidence that there was nowhere for him to be birthed other than in a stable occupied by common beasts (Lk. 2:1-7). Then we have the fact that the only people whom God notified that night, of the most significant event in the history of the world, were some insignificant, common shepherds tending their sheep outside of Bethlehem (Lk. 2:8-14).

The shepherds who were visited by the angel of the Lord that night were no more randomly chosen that Joseph and Mary were. They obviously were men of honest and good hearts, and that was manifested by the fact that they received the message of the angel with faith and joy, and went to worship the new born king, and also spread the glad tidings abroad (Lk. 2:15-18). These things are prime examples of how God sees things, and what it is that catches his attention. Men are mesmerized by the great things and people of this world, according to what appears to them to be great. God is more interested in what truly IS GREAT, and that is the honest and true hearts of those who will receive and adore his Son, the same way the woman who washed the feet of Jesus did, and the way Joseph, Mary, and and the shepherds did. The woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears felt perfectly at home at his feet. The shepherds were thrilled to go to a stable to find the only begotten Son of God's entrance into this world, as were Joseph and Mary. And I am certain that the great prophet Samuel would have been first in line to worship the baby Jesus at that stable, if he had been there and had opportunity to do so. In today's world there may be millions and millions of people glued to TV sets worldwide, watching a ridiculous Super Bowl halftime show, while God is warming his heart watching some lowly, insignificant person visiting some forsaken old soul who has been stuffed away in a nursing home somewhere. The truth of the matter is that it usually is the common folks who receive Jesus with humility and gladness, because the higher level people of the earth are too busy being enthralled with the things and people that only appear to be significant and great in the earth.

For clarity's sake the apostle Paul confirmed these things to us to be the truth: "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (I Cor. 1:25-31). The bottom line is that if we are maturing in Christ, and we've learned how to be led by his Spirit; WE ALSO will be like God, and be drawn more to those who are of good and honest hearts, than to the famed things and people that this world is drawn to, and is prone to celebrate. Also we will not be easily fooled by the appearances of things that may be going on with people, unlike the Pharisees who condemned both Jesus and the woman who was washing his feet with her tears. Some of God's finest jewels are still in the gutter, and it is my job and yours to be drawn to those jewels, and get them to a place where Jesus can polish them up really nice, so that he can show them to this blind and foolish world. Praise God! Amen.