What Do I See, What Does God See

Last Sunday, we attended our daughter and son-in-law's church in Nashville for the dedication of their first-born son Adrian.  As they stood in the front of the church, the people in the sanctuary smiled at the sight of this four-month-old little boy looking around with amazement as if comprehending the vastness of God.

But while it appeared a small helpless baby was being dedicated to the LORD, I sensed something different.  In our eyes, a baby was being dedicated.  In the LORD'S eyes, a man of God was being dedicated.

How does that change how I view this child?  How will I treat him differently as a man of God?  How will I pray for him with that kind of eternal perspective in mind?  What will I model before him in the dailiness of life? 

I have an advertisement for a retail store sitting on a shelf in my closet, a woman modeling an outfit, so perfect, every hair in place, coordinated, and confident.  I keep that picture there not to measure my appearance or others against it, but to remind me that God sees us differently and treats us accordingly.

Do I treat others by how God sees them?  Precious in His sight?  A man or woman of God in the making?

In the course of the church service, the pastor invited those who needed prayer to walk forward.  As we were sitting in the second row, I witnessed a homeless man sobbing before one of the pastors.  He too is precious in the sight of the LORD.  God sees him not as a homeless man, but a life redeemed.

I love the passage in 1 Samuel when Jesse's seven sons all passed before the prophet Samuel who was to designate one of them to be king.   Each one of the brothers was qualified, I am sure, in their own right to gain the crown.  But God always looks beyond.  God chose not the obvious, but the youngest.  The others saw David and treated him as the runt of the litter so to speak, a lowly shepherd without a future.  But God saw royalty. 

For the LORD sees not as man sees;
man looks on the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks on the heart.

                          1 Samuel 16. 7

What do I see in those around me?
What does God see?

Open my eyes, LORD,
and make me faithful.