“Selfie” is a relatively new word but the main idea isn’t. Many artists, including famous ones like Van Gogh, have painted self-portraits and the first recorded photo self-portrait was created by Robert Cornelius in 1839 using an early photographic process called daguerreotype. It took until 2013 for the word “selfie” to enter the Oxford English Dictionary as term for “a self-image, especially for use on social media”.
A few years ago we went to Venice. It is stunningly beautiful and we had a fabulous time enjoying the sights. What bemused us though were the many thousands of Korean and Chinese tourists that seemed to be posing for selfies – often with not much of Venice in the photos. They could have been anywhere really, and the photographers seemed completely self-absorbed.
A study by University College London discovered that (unsurprisingly) when choosing selfies to post, people choose those that make them look younger and more attractive. They might think that that is all that counts, but how does God see us? God does not look at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart.
One of the Old Testament heroes was King David. We read about Davids’ anointing in 1 Samuel 16. The prophet Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint God’s choice for king (Saul had been the peoples choice). Saul was tall and strong and presumably good looking. Samuel expected to find a similar such person and indeed Jesse bought forward his eldest son, Eliab who was tall, athletic and handsome.
“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
In fact, God refused all seven sons paraded before Samuel, so Samuel had to ask Jesse if there any sons left! There was David, but he was out tending the sheep. 1 Samuel says that David was summoned and “he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (KJV)
Basically, a good looking chap but not of great stature. Yet God had Samuel anoint him there and then in front of his brothers.
David was the major character in one of the most famous stories in the Bible, “David and Goliath”. I don’t recall it being said in the Old Testament, but I could imagine Goliath taking a selfie with the cowering Israelites behind him just across the battlefield. The Israelites looked at the physical size of Goliath and were terrified. Goliath was a mighty warrior and twice the height of a normal man. David was not shaken because God had priority in his heart. He saw Goliath as a single man against a warrior of the living God.
And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 1 Samuel 17: 8 – 10 (KJV)
David knew that these taunts could not go unchallenged. David trusted that God would deliver Goliath to him. God (not David) would defeat Goliath, and all David had to do was trust in the Lord. Neither Saul nor his army were trusting in the Lord in this situation. They let fear seep into their hearts but David knew better and trusted the Lord.
A diminutive shepherd boy defeated a giant. He did not let his enemy put fear into his heart. Again, the Old Testament doesn’t say whether David took a selfie of himself with a defeated Goliath behind him.
God saw Davids’ heart. Davids’ heart was set aside for God and while David trusted the Lord his goals aligned with Gods goals.
A heart and life set apart for God is what God desires for us. If that is what you want then that is a conversation for you to have with the Lord.
Gareth Gadd