Gift Wrapping

I was thinking about this early this morning when I woke up. I was watching a TV program and a segment in the movie was in a children's hospital. There were gifts being distributed to all of the children. The cameras narrowed in on this little boy who had just received a very small package poorly wrapped in wrinkled, worn gift wrapping. After looking at the packages that the other kids received (wrappings of bright greens and reds) he decided that he didn't want his package, but instead, he longed to have the bigger, seemlingly nicer gifts that some of the others were getting.
Nurses around him encouraged him to open his present. With hesitation, he did so and was quite surprised to find something he had longed for, for so long - an autographed baseball from his all-time favorite player! He looked up to one of the nurses and yelled "It's better than I thought it was going to be!!"

That got me thinking about something... how often have we 'judged' others for their outward appearance? And what if God judged us by our outward appearance? Well - thank God He wasn't judging me first thing this morning - - - YIKES! Life for me, before makeup and hairspray is not a pretty sight!

Honestly, though, how often have we been guilty of this very thing? I know I have been! Admittedly, I have judged from a distance before. I have met someone and have automatically formed an opinion about them right from the start. However, I will tell you that MANY times these have proved to be some of the greatest people I have ever met! I know that my lesson learned from these situations is this: "Some of the greatest gifts come poorly wrapped in the smallest packages." I believe these situations happened to me to teach me about Christ's love for us and his pure grace! It is because of Christ's unconditional love for us that we can learn to love others unconditionally and to extend His mercy and grace to all of His children - apart from their wrapping.