Craig Clouston

It’s the Filling That Matters

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.
Proverbs 26:23

Five feet nine inches tall, long auburn hair, and deep green eyes, she was stunning! Clark almost tripped as he turned to get a second look at the woman he’d just walked past. “Wow! I’d love to get to know her,” he said, nudging his buddy, Brad.
“No, you wouldn't,” came Brad’s unexpected reply. “She’s a snob, Clark,” he said.
“Aw, you’re just jealous,” he quipped.
“Let me tell you a true story, Clark,” Brad said and proceeded. “Everywhere this woman goes, she commands attention. Everyone who sees her jockeys to meet her and to be seen with her. Yet few ever get the chance. Those who do usually regret ever wasting time trying.” Looking to see if he was making any impression, he continued. “My father was present on one occasion when a young man about her age approached her at a dinner party. He shyly asked her to have a drink with him in the restaurant bar. Dad said the woman briefly looked at him and with disdain in her voice, said, ‘It would be a tremendous waste of my time, and I would die before I would be seen with the likes of you.’ And with that, she turned her attention back to her sycophant admirers. Clark, I’m telling you, she’s as vile on the inside as she is beautiful on the outside.”

†

Created in God’s image, there are, regrettably, times we don’t resemble Him in the slightest. Our exterior may be bright and shiny, but our soul can be riddled with poison, leaching out into our surroundings, polluting everything it touches.
It isn’t enough to look the part of a Christian. We must share similarities with our Creator. And the similarities must penetrate deeper than the surface of our existence. God, unlike us, is concerned with the heart. He barely slows down to see how we look on the outside.
What people see when they meet us is important, because Who we represent can be seen in our attitude. But the shell is not as important as the filling.

Prayer

“Make me beautiful on the inside, Lord. And help me look past other’s shell to find the goodness within. Amen.”