I Samuel 16: 6- 7, 10- 12 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, "Surely this is the man the LORD has chosen!" But the LORD said to Samuel, "Don't judge by a man's face or height, for this is not the one. I don't make decisions the way you do! Men judge by outward appearances, but I look at a man's thoughts and intentions." [The King James translation states: "but the LORD looketh on the heart."]....."The LORD has not chosen any of them," Samuel told Jesse. "Are these all there are?" "Well, there is the youngest, Jesse replied. "But he's out in the fields watching the sheep." "Send for him at once," Samuel said, "for we will not sit down to eat until he arrives." So Jesse sent for him. He was a fine-looking boy, ruddy-faced, and with pleasant eyes. And the LORD said, "This is the one; anoint him." [Living Bible translation]
Summary: Although GOD had led the people of Israel by speaking through prophets such as Samuel, the people did not want GOD's leadership. Wanting to be like all the other nations around them, the Israelites told Samuel they wanted a king. So, Saul became the first king. Saul was a head taller than any of the others. 1 Samuel 9:2
However, when Saul disobeyed GOD, GOD told Samuel to pick a new king. Samuel was instructed to go to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse, where Samuel was told to anoint one of Jesse's son as the next king. Jesse had eight sons. When Samuel entered Jesse's house, he took one look at Eliab, who was manly and tall, and Samuel thought to himself that surely 'this one' was the one God will want me to anoint. To Samuel, Eliab looked like a king. But, Eliab was not the one.
Jesse then paraded his other six sons before Samuel, but GOD did not instruct Samuel to anoint any of these others either. When Samuel asked Jesse if he had any more sons, Jesse said there was one more, (who wasn't even significant enough to Jesse to warrant being in the house), who was watching the sheep. As the youngest, and probably the smallest, and the one everyone thought the "least significant," no one thought much of this boy. But, David was the one---he was GOD's chosen!
GOD does not think the way that humans think. GOD is not concerned with "height," or "weight" or "beauty" or "color" or "see things the way other people see things." In GOD's eyes, "bigger is not always better."
GOD does not look at outward appearances." GOD looks at the "heart."
Fruits and Vegetable
According to Allison Aubrey in "Smaller but Better: Organic Tomatoes May Pack More Nutritional Punch," February 13, 2013, a new study a new study in PLOS ONE [an open access peer-reviewed journal published by the Public Library of Science] found that organic tomatoes, which were about 40% smaller than conventionally grown tomatoes, packed more of a nutritional punch on the inside than conventional ones because they had higher levels of vitamin C, sugar and lycopene. While the sugar may have made organic tomatoes better tasting than conventional ones, it was the lycopene, the compound that gives the tomatoes its red coloring that made organic tomatoes better nutritionally. Lycopene, according to Aubrey and the study is linked to decreased risk of stroke. The study believes that organic gardening tends to "stress out" tomatoes plants. Because the plants do not have pesticides the plants have to "work harder" to fend off pests and thus produce more compounds, such as Vitamin C and lycopene. They describe the process as similar to humans having to produce more antibodies to fend off a disease. Another factor reported in the study was how the plants were fertilized:
Conventional farming tends to use a lot of quick-release, nitrogen fertilizer — which provides a burst of growth. By comparison, organic methods focus on enriching the soil, but the nutrients are released more slowly. This means the fruit grows slower, and the plant has more time to make compounds like flavonoids.
See, "Smaller But Better: Organic Tomatoes May Pack More Nutritional Punch," February 13, 2013 by Allison Aubrey, www.npr.org.
A similar finding was reported by Sarah Burns in "Nutritional Value of Fruits, Veggies is Dwindling," bigger is not always better when it comes to selecting fruits and vegetables. In her article, Burns notes that an English researcher, Dr. Anne-Marie Mayer looked at 20 UK-based crops from 1930 to the 1980's and reported more than 10 years ago that fruits and vegetables were declining in nutritional value.
When a similar study was performed at the University of Texas, analyzing 43 fruits and vegetables from 1950 to 1999, the researchers there also found that there was a decline in vitamins, minerals, and protein in crops. For example, in 1950, broccoli had 130 mg of calcium but today, researchers reported that the number was only 43mg. The researches at the University of Texas believe the decline of the nutritional value of some fruits and vegetables is due to "the farming industry's desire to grow bigger vegetables faster."
The very things that speed growth---selective breeding and synthetic fertilizers—
decrease produce's ability to synthesize nutrients or absorb them from the soil.
See, "Nutritional Value of Fruits, Veggies is Dwindling—Chemicals that speed growth may impair ability to absorb soil's nutrients," by Sarah Burns, Prevention, July 9, 2010.
You may also find that fruits and vegetables will not only differ in nutritional value, depending on whether they are "conventional" or "organic," but that the size of vegetables may also affect their taste. For example, large carrots may have a different taste compared to small, slimmer early picked carrots. New potatoes (those early small potatoes) are different than older, thicker skinned potatoes. You may enjoy thin asparagus but dislike bulky asparagus. So when selecting fruits and vegetable, you may want to give some of the fruits and vegetables that you previously put on your "no" list a "second chance." You may not have eaten the right size vegetable or you may want to try "organic" instead of the "conventional" variety. Whatever your selection, remember: "bigger is not always better."
A SERVANT' S PRAYER or A BIGGER PRAYER
Act 13:22 states:
After removing Saul, HE [GOD] made David their king. HE testified concerning him [David]: 'I had found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'
As a young man David prayed that that GOD create within him a "clean heart" and a "right spirit," (See Psalms 51:10). It was not a prayer for things or a "Selfie" prayer —it was a servant's prayer.
Later, David's son, Solomon, prayed a similar prayer—asking for "an understanding heart." (1Kings 4:9). The Bible states that because Solomon did not ask for great riches for himself or to be "bigger" but only asked to be a "better servant," GOD blessed Solomon with great wisdom and much more.
In our society today, where we are often faced with bigger gas bills, bigger water bills, bigger telephone and utility bills, larger tax assessments, and where there is a focus in popular culture of who has "the biggest," it is easy to fall victim to the "bigger prayer request" syndrome. However, like the man in JESUS' parable, whose thoughts were "within himself," we have to be careful to not just pray for "bigger barns." See Luke 12:14-22. We have to remember we are here to serve GOD. We must remember that "little becomes much" when we place it in THE MASTER'S hands. See John 6:11, where a youngster gave up his lunch to feed a multitude.
Today, pray that GOD gives each of us discernment, wisdom and humility. Pray that we each become the person GOD intends us to be ---a person "after GOD's own heart!" Let us try to do everything GOD wants us to do, so we can be everything GOD wants us to be.
Eat better, be better and BE BLESSED!
