God Sees The Heart!

CHILDREN'S SERMON

GOD SEES THE HEART!

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 16:7

Sermon prop: a Melon or Cantaloupe

Hi everyone! It is good to see you today. Hey I have something in my treasure box today that I picked up at the market this week.

Do you know what this is? It's a cantaloupe. How many of you like cantaloupe? I like it too. I especially like fresh cantaloupe. About once a year Mrs. Vickie and I go to Southern California. While we are there we get to enjoy fresh cantaloupe and other fruit that is grown right there in the area.

They pick it ... we eat it!

However, every once in a while you can cut into a cantaloupe and it is either not ripe, or it's overripe and tastes bad. But for a lot of us we do not know how to tell if one is ready to eat ... you see you cannot tell by looking at the outside ... you have to find a way to check the inside.

Did you know the same is true about people? Sometimes we cannot tell by looking at a person whether or not they love Jesus. In fact, sometimes, everything that we see says do are but their heart is still dirty with sin and has not been forgiven.

At other times we might look at a person and think, "That person looks mean" or "That person does not look like someone who is following Jesus."

I have a friend, for example, named Marty. Marty is what some people call a "Biker." Marty has a lot of tattoos and some pierces in his ears and he rides a big loud bike and he wears a lot of leather all the time. Marty looks scarey but you know what ... Marty is NOT mean and scarey. Marty loves Jesus and he is always telling other bikers about God's love.

We look at the outside of people and make judgments that are wrong. God never looks at the outside. God looks at the inside ... just like we would this cantaloupe.

The Bible says: 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 looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

When God looks at you he looks at your heart. He can tell by looking there whether or not you love Him and whether or not you have asked Jesus to forgive you for your sins.

We must make sure that we are honest with ourselves and with God ... because he already knows the truth about us.

Let's pray and thank God for looking at us correctly rather than judging us like other people do sometimes.

Source: Dr. Kenneth Pell, Potsdam Church of the Nazarene, Potsdam, New York, www.potsdam-naz.org