By GEORGE HOLLIS / Guest Columnist

Our bodies are extremely complicated and miraculously made by God. In terms of the probability of life existing at all, those who best understand the physics and genetics of life say it is zero.

That said, let us read what God said to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV), “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Well, we do generally look on the outward appearance of people as we “size” them up. How well dressed are they? Can they keep their appearance medically and physically fit? What kind of car and house do they own? There is an endless list of outward signs we use to rank people.

Then God makes the statement that all of these things have no meaning to God. God is looking for one thing about a person — is the person loving and kind and ready to improve the well being of others above improving his or her own well being? This message is consistent throughout the Old and New Testaments.

I am sure God is OK with us keeping ourselves physically and medically fit. While our bodies are but a shell, they are the shell of the Holy Spirit that resides within us. It is the ranking or judging of people God wishes we would stop.

We cannot know how God is wooing another into the Kingdom of God. We cannot know if they have accepted the way of loving other people as Christ loves them. Because we cannot know another person’s heart, and they cannot know ours, we are only to love and leave the judging to God.

The Rev. George C. Hollis is pastor of Cahaba Valley Church. You can reach him at hollistree@aol.com.