GOD Prizes The Interior Not Exterior

God's standards are always inward, not outward. Like geodes we may appear rough and crude on the outside but on the inside GOD is at work making what is very precious in His sight. The Holy Spirit continues working with us and bringing forth beautiful treasures from within us as we yield to Him. There are also those who outwardly may seem glossy and polished, but are resistant to God's Word and rot from within. Our outerman is our reputation with people but the hidden man of the heart is our reputation with God. Selah.... 1 Peter 3:4 describes the inner self characteristics that are precious in GOD 's sight, a spirit that is submissive to Him and gentle, not hard and unyielding in pride and rebellion. David was chosen by The LORD to be king over Israel, even though his entire family dismissed him as being insignificant. See 1st Samuel chapter 16. GOD chose David because He valued David's inner qualities and not the physical outward appearance of his older brothers. Jeremiah 23:29 says that GOD'S Word is like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. His Word breaks through the our hardness, rebellion and pride of heart to reveal the inner man of the heart. Geodes are a type of rock that on the outside look like just an ordinary lumpy bumpy rock BUT when broken open they reveal a hidden shining beautiful interior of crystals such as quartz, amethyst or agate. This is a picture of the spiritual core of a person in GOD'S sight. What He counts as precious in in complete antithesis to what people count as valuable... GOD rejected the strong, tall successful looking older son of Jesse, Eliab. Eliab 's heart had failed the test of Divine scrutiny. He saw in David's heart however, precious gems of his love for The LORD and his desire to honor Him. He was faithful in his devotion to the sheep and worshipped The LORD declaring in Psalm 23 that GOD Himself was David's shepherd. David did commit some serious sins down the line, but GOD saw that David's heart belonged to Him and when confronted with his sin, unlike Saul before him, he took responsibility for his sin and repented. People look at outward charisma, qualifications, talents etc or the outward lack of these things to form an opinion of someone , but GOD looks at the hidden man of the heart. If our heart is broken open, what will be revealed? Shining crystals of a geode or the rotting substance of fruit that is bad.... Looks tasty on the outside but one bite reveals the rotting inner core.... Selah.... Shalom