Underneath It All

Yesterday I went strawberry picking with Moose - actually, I picked and he ate. :) But it was a fun morning activity on a beautiful summer day.

He couldn't "get" the idea of picking the fruit because he couldn't see any of it. Most of the berries on the periphery of the plants had already been picked, those that hadn't were either unripe or beginning to rot as they touched the ground.

So as I picked, I moved back the lush green foliage and in each strawberry plant I found a jackpot of fresh, ripe berries just under the canopy of leaves.

It struck me as a lesson - so often I judge people by their outside, and I hardly take time to find out what is beneath the surface. So often I'm judged in much the same way. A lot of the time, all I have to do is tell someone I live in Naperville, and immediately their mind jumps to this mental image of a snooty, over privileged, flashy person and I am SO not that person. I just happen to live in a well-funded community but I think of myself as pretty down to earth.

Thank God that He doesn't judge us this way - He doesn't look down and see our shell and think "oh, there's nothing good in there let's move on to the next one." He sees the good in me and in you and in everybody, and He never stops urging our hearts to bring all that good to the surface. And then, all we have to do is bear fruit.