Just like my 3 sons, most southern Chinese love to come home to a meal that includes steamed rice. However, last night I arrived home to find 3 “Bao Dz” (Buns) as my options on our table. One had 1 red dot, one had 2 red dots, and one had no dots. For me, once a little hot sauce could be found, this meal looked as though it would be both quick and scrumptious! Yet, while this system of dots is clear and useful under most circumstances, everything changes when your wife isn’t home and you don’t have a legend to determine which of the buns is a vegetable bun, a meat bun, or a sweet bun. My preference was a vegetable bun but there were no guarantees for me making that choice! From what I saw on the outside, the buns all looked similar and of equal value. I had no way to determine their contents aside from breaking one open and viewing what was on the inside.
Truly, what is found on the inside of a person’s heart is so much more important than what images we present to the world. We may be beautiful and deceive others even as we wear our various “dots” and appear all alike but we never deceive God for what is within us and motivates our daily lives. God sees through our deceptions, our prejudices, our lack of faith, our sins, our limitations, our pride, and our tears while, at the same time, he seeks to give us rest, direction, and comfort in becoming His family. It would be His desire that none of us would attempt to hide our true self from Him or ourselves. As with the buns, He knows that outside appearances don’t always reveal what is on the inside….but He wants to help us find our way to make right decisions in life.
______________
就像我三个儿子，大多数中国南方人回家吃饭，喜欢看到一锅热气腾腾的米饭。但是昨晚回到家，发现我的晚餐选择在桌上是三个包子。其中一个包上有一个红点，一个有两个红点，一个没有点。对我，只要再配一点辣椒酱，这也会是快速和极好的一餐！包子上这些小红点在大多数情况下是很清楚及有用的；但是如果妻子不在，每件事都有改变；没有人解说哪是菜的，哪是肉的或甜的。我比较喜欢素包子，但不保证我的选择会对！从外表看，我看所有包子都一样及同等价值。我无法决定它们的内在，除非剥开它们，察看内心。
是的，一个人的内心比给人看到的外表更加重要。我们可能外表很美，像似穿有各种「点」的外衣，可以欺骗他人；但是我们每日生命的内在和动机永远不能欺瞒上帝。上帝可以看透我们的虚伪、偏见、信心缺乏、我们的罪及限制、我们的骄傲和眼泪；在同时，祂要我们成为祂家庭一份子可以有安歇、方向及安慰。祂的愿望是没有任何一人会企图从 祂或我们自己隐藏真的自我。如这些包子，祂知道外在表现永远不可能表明内在…..但是 祂希望帮助我们找到方法，在生命上做正确的决定。