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As you look around at your group of friends, you may notice one has a great body or personality, another has a great job, still another has a great family. One may be categorized by others as a "winner" and another as a "loser."

But society's standards are confusing. The "best" person is the one who makes the most, who has a spouse who treats her like a queen, or whose kids are on the honor roll. Today's culture does not value what's most important: the quiet simplicity of knowing God, and the strength and peace such a relationship gives us.

Imagine the surprise of David's family when Samuel wanted to see the runt who had been out in the fields singing to himself (we now call these songs psalms). Who, him? Apparently, no one would have guessed David was a candidate because they didn't even bring him in to meet Samuel.

Outwardly, David may have seemed like an unlikely choice, but God saw much deeper than David's relatives and friends could. It's impossible to read someone else's motives—to know his pain or imagine his dreams. There is so much you don't know about others—or God's plans for them—that it makes no sense to compare yourself to them. Instead, focus on purifying your own motives and giving God your dreams. Then who knows what glorious things God may bring into your life! (See also Numbers 6:22-27; Mark 10:29-31, 35-45.)

Good Words to Remember:
The LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

Today's Challenge:
Am I open to receiving God's plan for my life?

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian Bible Studies.

Bible Studies to Help You Go Deeper