Several times a month Carla’s boss brings in her excess eggs for Carla and some of the other employees to take home.  In good times she has about a hundred eggs a day she must get rid of and she can’t sell them all.

There are white and brown eggs, and there are also green eggs.  Occasionally we have had duck eggs and then we did get the goose eggs one time.  Personally, I could tell both the duck eggs and the goose eggs from the chicken eggs, but the exterior (shell) colors of the chicken eggs seemed unimportant.

One of Carla’s co-workers, though, swears she doesn’t like the taste of the green eggs, so doesn’t want any of them.  I guess she is a fan of Dr. Zeus who didn’t like green eggs and ham.

Milder today, wind is blowing a bit, but no gale like gusts (at least not yet,) so it isn’t all that bad.

Proverbs 26:23-25  Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.

²⁴ He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;

²⁵ When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.

It was a solid old oak tree.  It had withstood the wind and weather through decades, but the leaves were not as bright, or as many.

Taking a quick look at the tree, everything appeared okay, but when we knocked on the tree there was a dead sound.  The tree trimmer ran a core check and we found that the interior of the tree was rotten; it wouldn’t stand much longer and must be removed before it gave in to a wind storm and damage property or hurt someone.

The outside of the tree appeared sound, but the interior of the tree – that underneath the bark and hidden from view – was rotten to the core.

As people we see the exterior of other people.  Often we judge them by their appearance – wealthy or poor, sophisticated or backward, bright or challenged, physically attractive or unattractive.

We are often fooled by that exterior and ascribe either good or bad in what we see.  Outside they appear friendly and caring, inside they are doing what they want for themselves and really could care less about others.  They may even be smiling and friendly as they plot our demise.

We want to make a good impression with people.  We may not be concerned about certain sectors of society, but to those we can relate to – or at least try to influence or receive their approval – we may feel it is important to make a good impression.

But dressing up the outside, making ourselves look good so others will accept us may be our undoing.

We can work so hard on appearance that the inner soul, our spiritual well-being is forgotten and what good we may have had is slowly rotted away and we are incapable of standing against the storms of life.

As a Christian we should never worry about what others think about us (I know it is easy to say, but very difficult to accept when being denounced by someone, ridiculed or attacked.)

It is up to us to make sure the inner man, our soul, our heart; our spirit is pleasing to God.

That takes determination.  It takes a willingness to be humbled by Him and to learn from that.  It takes a willingness to be quiet, to take the time to listen, not just praising Him, not just asking Him for ‘something’ but to sit quietly, pondering and meditating on His Word – the Holy Spirit will work with us from there.

In taking time to be with God we keep the destructive world from poisoning and rotting our spiritual well-being and we can then help others that need that help.  

It will also help us discern those that appear solid on the outside, but listening and watching them we find that there is something behind the façade they choose to show us and it is not good; it can indeed be rotten, and that unpleasant core, could attack us also. 

God has warned us so many times; He has given examples of both what He expects of us and what we must not do – actions that will lead to our basic core being destroyed.

But He is also willing to help us.  We are not on our own, we have the wherewithal to allow Him to work within our hearts and strengthen and keep us from rotting in heart and soul.

Psalm 139:22-24  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Later, Art