More precious than....????

People magazine's cover today had a picture of Yeardley Love, the University of Virginia student who was recently murdered. The pictures and reports indicate that this girl had it all going for her--a good family life, lots of talent, smarts, good looks and even with all this, humility and generosity. The reports indicate that her ex-boyfriend may be responsible for this heinous crime. Regardless of who is responsible, it is horrific and unthinkable. A promising life snuffed out.

Here's my problem with this scenario. Maybe it's just me, but this sounds like a repeat of other stories we've read and seen in the media. All the way back to Jon Benet Ramsey, maybe before, pretty much all of the headline stories of those abducted and/or murdered have been attractive, "beautiful" girls; mostly white and blond. I read that story today and shook my head and my heart. Terrible, terrible stuff. But the back of my head asked this question--what if the girl had been the opposite of this one, or Jon Benet, or Jaycee Dugard? What if she had been 5'-0" tall and 235 pounds, mixed race kid with a history of trouble and a face only a mother could love? Do you think the media coverage would be the same? I honestly don't think so. I think the world and the media have the fascination with those they consider beautiful and therefore, more precious or valuable than others.

We humans see with our eyes and make judgments based on what we see. God sees with a totally different viewpoint and makes perfect judgments. He sees through the visual to the reality of the matter. Like when the Israelites wanted a human king so they could be like all the other nations. Somehow, God being their king wasn't good enough. Go figure. Anyway, Saul was their first king. Good start, but flubbed up mightily at the end. God appointed the prophet Samuel to go find the next king at the house of Jesse over in Bethlehem. God let him know that one of Jesse's sons was going to be the one. Ol' Samuel makes the trip, sees the sons in order of age and with every one, Samuel says to himself; "Woo! Look at this one! He's GOT to be it!" On each occasion, God said "Nope. Next son!" Samuel was confused about this, but God told him; "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Sam 16:6-7 NAS

Samuel's basis of worth and qualification for kingship was all about what he saw. Like the media and the rest of the world. God says the worth comes from the inside. To God, we're all in the same boat. We've all been created in the image of God. The only part of His creation done like that. We're special! However, we're all sinners and we fall far short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). That stinks! We all need help overcoming our faults and failures. Aha! But God loves everyone so much, that He sent His Son to die for all of our sins (Jn 3:16 as seen in football stadiums nationwide). Not because we deserve it (see the we're all sinners part), but because of the worth that He sees in each one of us. He doesn't see which side of the tracks you came from, how much you weigh, the color of your hair (if you have some, that is), how many friends you have, (real or Facebook) or if you made good grades in school. Heck, He doesn't even care if you've ever been to church in your whole life. You're still special to God! And God has made it easy to become His child and enter His heaven. The requirement is the same for all; "But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan--this rebirth comes from God." John 1:12-13 NLT Our need is all the same and God's remedy for our need is all the same. Our worth is not based on things we can see, but on what God puts in us.

We should be upset by the murder of Miss Love. God is. But our prayers need to go up as well for the hundreds, even thousands of young people abducted and/or murdered each year that will never make the cover of a magazine or the front page of the newspapers, as well as for their families. Those whom the rest of the world would call "unlovely" are just as valuable to God as the others who get the media attention. This should be our viewpoint as well. Help us Lord, to see as You see, so we can get it right and minister to ALL who have needs, as You see fit.