Once upon a time, there was a boy named Mordecai 👦🏻. He had a baby brother named Israel 👶, a daddy who liked taking pictures 👱🏻‍♂️, and a mommy who loved all three of them very much 👩🏻.

One day, 👱🏻‍♂️, 👩🏻, 👦🏻, and👶 went for a hike!

But this was not just a normal hike. 👱🏻‍♂️ had a friend from Hawaii 🌺 who liked taking pictures too 🙍🏻‍♂️. And they were going to go hiking at a very special place….

You see, when 👱🏻‍♂️ was a boy, he lived very close to this place. And 👱🏻‍♂️ had heard that it was a very good place for hiking and taking pictures. But 👱🏻‍♂️ had never been there before! So 👱🏻‍♂️, 👩🏻, 👦🏻, 👶 and 🙍🏻‍♂️ from 🌺 were all very excited to find out what this hike was going to be like.

At the very beginning of the hike 🥾 was a big boat!

But that was not what 👦🏻 enjoyed most about the 🥾.

Soon the trail turned into a boardwalk 🛤️ .

The 🛤️ was very beautiful. But the 🛤️ was not what 👦🏻 enjoyed most about the 🥾.

The 🛤️ crossed a wide canyon. The river below was loud and fast. 👱🏻‍♂️ and 🙍🏻‍♂️ from 🌺 stopped to take lots of pictures as the golden hour light was very beautiful.

But the river running through the wide canyon was not what 👦🏻 enjoyed most about the 🥾.

After going through some more woods, the 🛤️ crossed a little canyon. Instead of a loud and fast river, there was a small and gentle stream below. 👱🏻‍♂️ and 🙍🏻‍♂️ from 🌺 stopped to take lots of pictures again because it was very beautiful.

Finding a Way
Little Sister Falls, Great Falls Park, Maryland
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But the small and gentle stream running through the little canyon was not what 👦🏻 enjoyed most about the 🥾.

Golden hour was coming to a close, so 👱🏻‍♂️, 👩🏻, 👦🏻, 👶 and 🙍🏻‍♂️ from 🌺 hurried down the 🛤️ to find out what the main attraction was at the end of the trail.

At the end of the trail was a very fascinating site!

There was a very wide canyon that was much wider than the first canyon. It was so wide, in fact, that even the 🛤️ did not cross it. There was a loud and fast river rushing through the canyon that was much louder and faster than the first river. And 👱🏻‍♂️ and 🙍🏻‍♂️ from 🌺 stopped to take more pictures than they had taken before because this place was more beautiful than any other place along the 🛤️!

There were also people in kayaks 🚣‍♂️ in the river. The canyon was so big that they looked very small. And 👱🏻‍♂️ and 🙍🏻‍♂️ from 🌺 had to use big, white, telephoto lenses to photograph them.

But the giant canyon and wide river and colorful 🚣‍♂️ were not what 👦🏻 enjoyed most about the 🥾.

You see, while 👱🏻‍♂️ and 🙍🏻‍♂️ from 🌺 were taking pictures at that final overlook, and while 👩🏻 and 👶 were eating snacks, 👦🏻 climbed and explored and climbed and explored the most interesting mound of rocks that he had ever climbed and explored before!

And though the sunset was colorful, the overlooks breathtaking, the waterfalls abundant, the kayakers fascinating, and the moon photogenic and full as everyone headed back in the fading light of dusk, the one thing that 👦🏻 enjoyed most from the long hike that day had nothing to do with the “outward appearance” of that interesting place. Instead, he was a reminder to us all of the Biblical principle that “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”

To the Lord, it doesn’t matter so much how exciting or glitzy or attractive the surroundings are. What matters to the Lord is so much deeper! Just as 👦🏻 found pleasure in what 👱🏻‍♂️ and 🙍🏻‍♂️ from 🌺 relegated to “uninteresting” in light of everything else around us, so the Lord finds pleasure in those that fear and love Him more than the distraction of temporal values.

Maybe that’s why Jesus said, “…Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children (👦🏻👶), ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4).

The end!