photo #8942618

Joab's Fatal MistakeIn the story of David, King of Israel, there’s a place where God told Samuel, “Man looks on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart.” Which is a chunk of truth we tend to choke on. Joab, for example, was commander of David’s army and very good at it, but he tended to look out for ol’ number one most of the time. In his mind, David wasn’t going to last forever so what would happen to him then? So he decided to ingratiate himself to Absalom, whom he assumed was heir to the throne, and stunningly good-looking, and extremely popular. Joab saw the outward appearance, but didn’t see the blackness of Absalom’s heart—and it eventually cost him his life.You’d think that 30 centuries later we would be much wiser. Alas, we are not. Men marry women because they’re beautiful and women marry men because of their rugged good-looks. Teachers fawn over good-looking students, employers tend to hire on the basis of good-looks, churches hire pastors who are young and handsome, and to one degree or another we all sort of like to hang out with “the beautiful people.” Just as ridiculous, we even choose attractive people to represent us in government. In each of these scenarios we are hindered in that we are not God and we can’t surmise people’s heart with divine accuracy. We can, however, prayerfully seek God’s wise counsel, considering the state of their soul of greater importance than the symmetry of their facial features.Take the lesson of foolish Joab to heart. Good-looks doesn’t make a good person. And in the long run, the good-hearted will prove far more beneficial than those who have nothing to offer beyond their appearance. P.S. You do realize that just because a person is hard to look at doesn’t mean they have a heart of gold. Sad to say.