Inside Pretty [appearances]

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“Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good,” Prov. 16:2.
“Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature…God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart,” 1 Sam. 16:7.

“When the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch, heard him say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing Him as hopelessly out of touch. So Jesus said to them, “You are masters at making yourself look good in front of others, but God knows what’s behind the appearance,” Luke 16:14-15.
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“Momma, they make those hot wheels tracks look so cool on the box but they never actually work that good.” “Yeah, why do you think they do that?” “Because they wanted me to buy it and now I wish I hadn’t.” “Yeah, sometimes things aren’t what they appear to be. The looks on the outside are not always a good picture of what they are like on the inside. Sometimes pretty on the outside matches up with pretty on the inside and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes, ugly on the outside has a surprising beauty on the inside.”

We’ve also had this conversation in the grocery store as we purchase our produce. Someone told me years ago that a certain apple company invested all their r&d into making their apple look perfect but completely left the taste out of the equation for making the perfect apple. As you can imagine, or maybe you’ve tasted, the results were a beautifully bad tasting apple. You only have to eat one piece of fruit like this, even as a child, to bring home the point that outward appearances are not always good indicators for what will be found inwardly. I ask the boys to imagine the sweetness they'd have missed by passing over the pears (which always taste the sweetest when they start to look bruised and unattractive on the outside) for the beautiful tasteless winter peaches.

We start with fruit and Hot Wheels boxes and the conversation generally progresses to how this is true with people too. Sometimes pretty on the outside matches up on the inside and sometimes it does not. God's Word warns us it's easy to be drawn to people because they look pretty and wear nice clothes but that is not a reflection of what’s inside the heart. We ask the boys what it looks like to have a friend who is pretty on the outside and ugly on the inside. We talk of Samuel choosing the next king to replace Saul from Jesse’s sons and almost over looking David because he wasn’t as big and strong as his brothers. We ask God to give us eyes to see the heart. We ask God to help us not be tricked into picking what looks good on the outside but is yucky on the inside.

This rock drove this truth of Scripture home the best. We had already had many conversations about being careful not to judge things by their appearance so the pump was primed. When Tad received this rock for Christmas he kept being drawn back to it through the day. He was amazed by how the rock was so plain and easily overlooked on the outside, but contained such amazing beauty on the inside. On our last two camping trips my boys and their friends spent the better part of an afternoon collecting rocks to try and find beautiful crystals inside. I overheard Tad say, “let’s try to find the ugliest rock because I bet it will have the most beautiful insides.”

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"Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something," Mth. 23:2.
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"Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God," Prov. 31:31.

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