Don’t Judge a Banana By Its Peel

Have you ever heard the old adage, don’t judge a book by its cover? The lesson behind that story was that you cannot know what the inside of the book is going to be like, based on the design of the cover. Working in the publishing industry, I know this all too well. Some books will go through multiple cover changes, before they go to print. Sometimes any of the covers would work, and in a lot of cases, they are quite different from one version to the next.

The other day, I had half of a banana on my desk. I was hesitant to eat it, because I was guessing it was going to be bruised on the inside. You see, the banana on my desk had this large indented black spot, along with other smaller bruises. What I found when I pulled the peel back, was a beautiful, undamaged piece of fruit, waiting to nourish my body. In that instant, I learned a very valuable lesson from God.

1 Corinthians 1: 25-29 (Amplified Bible) states:
“[This is] because the foolish thing [that has its source in] God is wiser than men, and the weak thing [that springs] from God is stronger than men. For [simply] consider your own call, brethren; not many [of you were considered to be] wise according to human estimates and standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth. [No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are, So that no mortal man should [have pretense for glorying and] boast in the presence of God.”

There is something completely beautiful to me about the above passage. I love the thought that although I am bruised, beaten, tattered and torn, God can use me! Despite the fact that I am a child of divorce, went to three different colleges before I graduated, have a really off the wall personality, and once struggled with depression, God can use me! The Lord loves to use people, right where they are in life! God used a carpenter, a fisher, a tax collector, and women (which in Biblical times was more incredible than it is now) to complete His work.

Just like my banana, so many of us are worn out from living in the world, but that banana peel is just our body. The prize, our spirit, is safe inside, protected by our loving heavenly Father. We’re all familiar with the scripture in 1 Samuel 16:7 (Amplified Bible): “But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Now in this scripture reference, the opposite was happening. Samuel was looking at the things that were external when looking at Jesse’s oldest son, but God did not choose the eldest son of Jesse, but the youngest son of Jesse. God chose the son of Jesse that they didn’t even take the time to call in from the fields. Talk about feeling insignificant, but God knew him and chose him for greatness!

I would like to encourage those of you who may feel down about your life circumstances to wake up each day and know that you are chosen, because you are a child of the King. Do not live to make your life externally pleasing to men, but live in such a way to make your Spirit pleasing to God. Let your peel take a beating, it’s the fruit inside that’s important!