Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

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.”  1 Samuel 16:7

I went to my collection of “Children’s Moments” books for an inspiration for a devotion and found one to adapt for today.  Visualize two books in a bookstore, one book has a colorful cover and is blank inside.  The other book has a plain cover and is colorful inside. If you saw these two books, which one would you choose to bring home and read? People are just like the two books. Our outside appearance does not always show what is inside. Sometimes people that are beautiful on the outside are not so nice on the inside and sometimes people who are not so beautiful on the outside might be very nice. You cannot judge a book by the cover and you can’t tell what someone is like on the inside by looking at their outside. God cares about the way we are on the inside—character, if we are mirthful and full of love. God does not care what kind of clothes we wear or how we fix our hair. What matters is how beautiful we are on the inside. We should not be worried about how people look, but getting to know how they really are on the inside.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to not judge others by appearance, but look at their heart and character. Amen.

Susan Taylor (reprinted from the Eastridge Daily Devotional Book, 2008)