Not by the Cover

Bible Reading: Matthew 23:25-28

“Mom, I got it!” announced Eva after school one day.

“Got what?” asked her brother Ben. “Is it contagious?” He moved to the other side of the room, pretending to be afraid of her.

Eva gave him a scornful look and held up a book. The picture on the jacket showed a girl in a long skirt cooking over an old-fashioned stove. Ben made a face, and Eva grinned. “It’s the book I was telling Mom about that I found at our school library. It tells how to make vanity cakes like they did in pioneer times. Mom said she’d help me make some if I brought home the recipe.” She turned to her mother. “Can we make them today?”

“Right after dinner,” Mom said.

After the meal, Ben was put on dish duty, and Eva ran to get the book she had brought home. She eagerly opened it and flipped through a few pages. Then she closed it and looked at the cover. “This is weird,” she said, puzzled. “The jacket on this book says it’s about old-time cooking, but it’s really about antique cars! I can’t believe I didn’t notice that before!”

“Hey! That might be a good book after all!” said Ben. He grinned. “I think you should do the dishes so I can read that book.”

“Somehow it got the wrong jacket on it,” Mom said, looking at the book. “I guess this proves the old saying, ‘You can’t tell a book by its cover.’” She smiled at the kids. “And that goes for people too!”

Ben gave her a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

“People sometimes put on a good cover too,” Mom explained. “We might go to church and do all sorts of good things. Those who see us may be fooled and think such nice people must be Christians. But God knows what’s inside. He knows whether or not we’ve trusted Jesus and really are Christians or if we’re just pretending to be something we’re not.”

“Well,” said Eva, “compared to that, getting fooled by the cover on this book isn’t so serious, but we won’t be making those cakes tonight.”

“So does that mean I get out of doing dishes?” asked Ben hopefully.

“It means you get some help,” said Mom. “Let’s all get at it.”

-Hazel W. Marett

How About You?

Do you do things that make you appear to be something you’re not? Others may think you’re a Christian because you go to church, behave nicely, and talk about God. But God knows if you really trust Jesus as your Savior. If not, stop pretending. He sees the real you. Trust in Him today. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)

Today’s Key Verse: 1 Kings 8:39 You [God] know each heart, for you alone know every human heart. (CSB)

Today’s Key Thought:

You can’t fool God