Vanity Fair

A 40-year-old woman suffered a heart attack. While she lay on the table in the operating room at the hospital, she experienced a vision. She saw herself standing before God, and she asked Him, "Am I going to die?"

"No," God told her. "You'll live another 40 years."

She woke up shortly thereafter, elated at what she had been told. She was so happy, in fact, that she decided to stay at the hospital for a while and have some body enhancement surgery done as well. She had a tummy tuck and then also had her stomach stapled, so that she'd eat less. She had a nose job. She removed the crow's feet around her eyes. She got rid of her turkey neck. She got full, pouty lips, just like in Hollywood. She had her breasts enhanced and her rear end reduced. She got rid of miles of wrinkles and vericose veins.

When it was all done, she looked at herself in the mirror, and loved what she saw.

"Hey," she told herself, "if I'm going to live another 40 years, I might as well look marvelous doing it!"

She walked out the hospital doors, and was promptly hit by an ambulance.

She died immediately.

She stood before God once again.

"God!" she cried out angrily at Him, "You told me that I'd live for another 40 years! What happened?"

God looked at her and responded. "When I looked for you after your surgery, I didn't recognize you!"

And that's the way it is for a lot of us. We spend all of our money to make ourselves look good for the rest of the world, when all the while we're nothing more than "whitewashed tombs."

Remember God's words to Samuel when Samuel was looking for a new king of Israel among the sons of Jesse in 1 Samuel 16:7, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Jesus repeated it in Luke 16:15 when He told the Pharisees, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."

If you're looking at yourself these days, and you think that it's time for a few changes - kind of like a physical home improvement project for yourself - then just remember one thing: your interior will always need more work than your exterior.

Send Me!

Isaiah 6:8 - "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here I am. Send me!'"

What does God hear from you when He says, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" Does He hear you say, "Send me!" - or does He hear you respond with a long list of excuses, weaknesses, disabilities, handicaps, preoccupations, defects, worries, fears, problems, concerns, questions, anxieties, higher priorities, and other things to do?

Rick Warren said it best on Day 29 of The Purpose Driven Life: "If you're not involved in any service or ministry, what excuse have you been using? Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. That is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them in his service. He will use you, too, if you stop making excuses."

I believe that right now, at this very moment, many of you who are reading these lines are hearing God say directly to you, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

God doesn't want to hear you respond, "Why me?"

God wants to hear you respond, "Send me!"