The Onion

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Have you ever peeled an onion? If you have, then you’ve noticed that each layer is like the one before. You can peel and peel, layer after layer, and eventually get to the center and still find no change in the onion. It is the same through and through. (slice the onion from top to bottom down one side and begin to peel the layers away one at a time.)

This is the way we need to be as Christians. Do we have a nice shiny "surface" but on the inside, are we totally different? Or do we act different during church than we do at school or at home? Boys and girls, we need to ask God to check our heart. Jesus described the Scribes and Pharisees in the Bible as those who, "Outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." (Matthew 23:28) That means they were only acting good on the outside, but God had not changed them on the inside.

When the Prophet Samuel went to Jesse’s house to anoint the new king of Israel, God reminded him that "The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

Boys and girls, God does not look at how we "act" but who we are on the inside. Our outward actions should be a reflection of the inward work of his grace in our hearts. So, let’s be like the onion, kids, the same inside and out.

Remember, it is easy to change our outward appearance, but God is the one who has the power to change the thoughts and intentions of our heart. Let’s pray like King David did in Psalms 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

Stephen Wallace