Inside the Shell

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 17:9-10; Matthew 23:23-28

“Half of these nuts aren’t any good,” complained Gracie, who had been cracking walnuts for the dessert her mother was making. “They’re black and dried up on the inside.” She picked up a nut and showed it to her mother.

“Don’t bother cracking the bad ones,” said her brother Calvin, who had just come into the kitchen. “Dump those and use the good ones.”

Gracie scowled at him. “You can’t tell which ones are good. They all look fine on the outside.”

“I bet I can tell,” Calvin said, shaking one. “This one’s good.” Gracie took it and cracked it open. Sure enough, it was good. “See,” said Calvin, grinning. “I’ll pick them out for you.” He chose another one. “This one’s good too.” Gracie cracked it open, but it was dried up. Calvin frowned and handed her another nut. It wasn’t good either.

“You can’t tell any better than I can,” declared Gracie, taking a nut Calvin had rejected. “I’ll try this one.” She was delighted to find that it was good.

“Let’s split them up and see who can find the most good ones,” said Calvin.

Gracie laughed. “Okay.”

As they ate the dessert that evening, Gracie told Dad about the trouble with the walnuts. “Those nuts sound like people,” said Dad.

Calvin’s eyes twinkled. “Are you saying we’re nuts?”

Dad laughed. “What I mean is that people can appear to be Christians. We may look good on the outside, but what would others see if they could look inside at our hearts and minds? The outside doesn’t always match the inside. Jesus said the religious people in his day, the Pharisees, were like that. They appeared to be good, but they really were hypocrites.”

Mom nodded. “You kids had trouble telling which nuts were good, and others can’t really tell for sure if our hearts are in the right place. But God knows. He sees through the shell and knows what each of us is like on the inside. He knows whether we’ve truly trusted Jesus to save us from sin and give us a new, clean heart.”

Gracie nodded. “We can’t fool God.”

-Hazel W. Marett

How About You?

Do you go to church, treat people well, and avoid bad things? That’s good, and doing those things may make others think you’re a Christian. But are you really? People only see what’s on the outside, but God can see what’s in your heart. Doing good things can’t clean your heart of sin—only Jesus can do that. Trust Him as your Savior and He will make you clean. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)

Today’s Key Verse:
Matthew 23:28 On the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (CSB)

Today’s Key Thought:

Be clean inside