Mar
14
2013
Curb Appeal
Posted in Evangelism 4 Comments
You would almost miss it as you drove down the road.
Tucked back a bit, with overgrown hedges, and a dilapidated picket fence.
Situated right on a curve in the road…a curve that demands your attention.
I didn’t see the house…I saw the sign.
FOR SALE.
For all intents and purposes it seemed like a normal For Sale sign.
Except it wasn’t.
This sign was vastly different.
For Sale.
I look gorgeous on the inside.
I laughed when I read those words.
I am not in the market for a new house.
However, I almost wanted to go back and see the inside of this one.
Did those words truly mean that the house was lovely inside?
Were the words simply to grab your attention?
Did those words mean that the seller thought the house lacked curb appeal?
Whatever the reason, the sign caught my eye!
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way, I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
…When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man look at. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”
…Jesse had his seven sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these. ” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance, and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” (1 Samuel 16:1,6,7,10-12)
David was the least likely of the sons of Jesse to be anointed King.
He was a shepherd…performing seemingly menial tasks…yet so important to the Lord.
A shepherd knows how to tend his sheep.
He knows how to protect his sheep from wolves.
A true shepherd is not a hired hand who abandons the sheep at the first sign of trouble.
On the outside, David was probably dirty and smelly…with rough hands.
David was also a poet, a harpist, a skilled hunter.
David had more on the inside than met the eye on the outside.
Even his father dismissed him as a possibility…describing him as the youngest.
The sheep tender.
God’s perfect choice.
A man after God’s own heart.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions , He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:2-5)
Jesus, the Suffering Servant, was ordinary looking.
There was nothing about the way He looked on the outside that attracted others to Him.
I imagine Jesus with kind, loving eyes.
I imagine Him with a hearty laugh.
I imagine that Jesus was ruddy, dirty, smelly…with rough hands.
Those same hands were nailed to a cross…for me…for you!
Isn’t it wonderful that God doesn’t look for curb appeal?
God looks so much deeper than that.
God looks inside the heart that belongs to Him.
Like the house on the side of the road, there is so much more than meets the eye.
Imagine the sign God puts on us for all to see.
It’s there if you look deep enough.
I am gorgeous inside!
All because of Him.
So glad God doesn’t judge us by our curb appeal.
So am I, Marcie!
I am glad He looks so much deeper, into our heart!
Gina
Love your posts, Gina!
Thank you, Sandy.
I am delighted that you are blessed.
Gina