The most beautiful pear I had ever seen lay on top of a bushel basket at the market. No blemishes marred its blushed pink and yellow skin.
When I got the fruit home and bit into it, the rotten core collapsed under my teeth. Mealy and blackened, it smelled and tasted like sour wine inside. Part of it dropped to the pavement with a splat. I wondered how something so beautiful could be so nasty inside.
God made us wonderfully and fearfully, beautiful in our own ways. But a person’s beautiful outsides do not necessarily mean they are of solid character, as Peter reminded his readers.
Some are too full of pride to praise God. Others are full of hatred and sin and have hard-boiled shells, causing them to deny the existence of God. Still others think they are God Himself.
Jesus and His disciples warned about false prophets and false teachers. The Bible tells us of the many times Jesus wrangled with the Pharisees in His day. We need to only read current events to see religious groups who misinterpret God’s Word. False teachers are still here.
Ask God for the wisdom to discern His true teachings from the false ones.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Gina Napoli lives in Harrisburg, PA, and is author of Clunk on the Head: How the Holy Spirit Got Our Attention. She has also been published in Highlights for Children, Pockets, Guardian Angel Kids, Hopscotch, and Humpty Dumpty. She publishes articles regularly in two regional publications: The Burg and Business Woman. She also publishes in the state-wide online magazine, Keystone Edge. Her writing is featured in two book anthologies: A Community of Writers and Bitter Sweet. Two hundred of her pieces appear in almost sixty different print and electronic media venues.