It’s What’s Inside

“All that glitters is not gold.” – William Shakespeare

Spring into summer is the busiest travel time for our business/ministry as we participate in various homeschool conferences. As a promotion for multiple purchases, we have a little incentive for our customers. Essentially, people who buy two or more products pick one of several like items that will indicate what prize they will take home along with their purchased products. The items from which they choose are associated with the concurrent season or holiday. For instance, around patriotic days we put flags in a container with numbers on them that are affiliated with our different gifts. There are artificial flowers for springtime. If we are doing an event for Christmas, we have some red and green lollipops for the game. We even have a set of plastic baby bottles for the times when we are featuring a brand-new product.

And then, there are the incredible, non-edible plastic eggs that we put on display in a pretty basket as we are nearing Easter. Each egg holds a slip of paper that reveals what the customer will receive. We use iridescent eggs that are different pastel colors. It became apparent a few years ago that not only are these an attractive decoration on our table for the Easter season, they are fascinating enough to little eyes to be a prize themselves. Recognizing their appeal, I purchased extras so that I can give a few out to those who ask, letting the recipient know that the shell is all they are getting. At this most recent conference we placed the egg basket at the front of the table. When we left for the evening, everything but the cashbox stayed in place. Upon returning the next morning, to our slight dismay, almost all of the eggs were gone! Fortunately, because of the extras I had, along with a few additional prize slips, we were able to replenish the basket and continue the game. Later in the day while we were busy with some customers, low and behold, another egg disappeared. We had to keep an especially vigilant eye on the basket from then on and hide it overnight to be able to continue our little game for multiple purchases.

As pretty as these eggs are, I wonder how many of our pilferers were aware that the prize inside was a mere piece of paper with the promise of a gift on it. Certainly, kids are accustomed to finding treats and treasures inside a plastic egg. Could it be there was some disappointment when these little ovals were opened? The truth is that we all can be lured by shiny, pretty wrappings around what might be very insignificant contents. We go for the gleaming, the glamorous, the beautiful, the striking only to find out that there is nothing worthwhile in the acquisition, and we are disappointed not only by what is inside but by our original fascination with it and the assumption regarding the treasure it might hold.

But then, we have a God who seems to always turn our idea of the world upside-down. He sent us Jesus, his only Son. Jesus, the unassuming, humble, even perhaps unattractive Son of Man. Jesus, the one about whom was written hundreds of years before his earthly arrival, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:2b-5, ESV). Jesus, the one who told us that the last will be first and the first will be last, that one who desired to be great should become a servant, the one who said, “‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it'” (Matthew 16:24-25, ESV).

No shiny covering, no glad appearance, nothing glamorous or striking to behold. But, oh the beauty within! What a wonderful truth to ponder – this Jesus the one and only came to suffer and die in our place, and those who have come to believe in him have the gift of eternal life that holds no comparison here on earth. The first glance at the outward appearance may not draw us in, but a peek inside of just who Jesus is will never disappoint and will be the most worthwhile prize we will ever acquire.

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