I love bananas. They are absolutely my favorite fruit! In fact, I pretty much eat a banana for breakfast about four to five days a week. Yesterday, I noticed my husband and I both chose to include a banana in our breakfast menu choice. I watched as he peeled a recently purchased gorgeous yellow banana across the table from me. As I went over to the corner in the kitchen where we keep our banana stash, I noticed there was one browning banana on top of a brand new perfectly yellow bunch. I picked up the one loose browning banana and headed back to the table.
I asked the burning question that is on all of your minds at this point. "Husband, why did you choose a brightly colored yellow banana and ignore the loose browning banana which should be eaten first?" He responded matter of factly that the bright yellow banana would taste better.
Once we both peeled our bananas guess what, they looked exactly the same on the inside. Neither had a single brown sport insight. For all intensive purposes, they were identical twin bananas. Both perfect for eating. My husband was so focused on the outside differences, but, in reality, both bananas were perfect for eating.
I am reminded of 1 Samuel 16 when Samuel is examining the children of Jesse to discern which one God has chosen to be the king of Israel. I suspect he felt as if he was looking at a bunch of bananas discerning which one to choose. David, much like the browning banana I chose from the bunch, most likely did not have the appetizing appearance for the next king. However, David, God's chosen king, would be described in Scripture as a man after God's own heart.
I think we do this with people a lot. If someone does not look a certain way on the outside, we do not take the chance to peel back their layers and get to know them on the inside. We make assumptions about what we think someone's heart is like based on their outward appearance. They could be a perfect banana on the inside, but we have no idea because we let some bruised spots on their outer peeling deter us for reaching for them and striking up a relationship.
Remember God's wisdom left for us in Scripture. If we want to live a life worthy of the calling God has given us, let us have eyes like our Lord and not focus on the outside. Help us Lord to take the time to peel back our focus of the outer layer and check out the inside of someone's heart.
"...for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." ~1 Samuel 16:7.