You cannot judge a book by its cover

When I published Chasing Jesus, one of the biggest decisions I made was the cover design. I wanted something that would stop people in their tracks when they walked past her in a bookstore. (And yes, she’s a her, I assure you my entire heart and soul went into writing and publishing Chasing Jesus, therefore; she is a her.) Cover design mattered more to me than the title even.

But why? Because I am guilty of judging a book by its cover. When I am the one browsing the bookstore, scanning my eyes to and fro throughout the store, I search for a beautiful book that will first catch my eye and if it’s an excellent book, that’s a bonus. Because I operate this way, I wanted to be sure my book popped for others who, like me, have a habit of judging a book by its cover.

Unfortunately, I’ve been guilty of doing this with people as well. Now, now, don’t look so surprised. I highly doubt I’m the only one who does this. I’m just the one in the confession seat.

So here we are, my family and I have just begun our family vacation. We loaded up the camper (Poppy the pop-up), grabbed the kayaks and headed off on a grand adventure. After several hours of driving, we pulled into the first stop on our list of campgrounds. We weren’t sure about our campsite so we did a little driving in circles when I noticed our neighbor staring creepily at us.

So, like a good little God’s girl, I immediately deemed her as “sketchy,” because that’s what Jesus would do (I hope you’re picking up on my sarcasm). But thankfully I have a crew full of kids to keep Momma in line. And as soon as the word “sketchy” left my mouth, my oldest son said to me, “wow, talk about judging a book by its cover.”

Insert face in hands. Way to teach them how to love others, Cass. He was right, and I let him own it. It’s rare you get to be right when you’re 16, so I let him have this moment. I judged this person before I even said hello. I quickly and silently spoke to Jesus about my judgemental attitude and told Him I was sorry. And like a good Father does, He gave me an opportunity to know this book cover I had unfairly judged.

We hurried down to the river after setting up camp and while the boys fished and Annah paddled around in her kayak, I sat at the river’s edge, reading, when low and behold if our “sketchy” neighbor didn’t show up. I had a choice to make. Do I say hello and get to know her or do I let her float on by, missing an opportunity to love one of God’s kiddos. I had already blown it once with my judgmental attitude, so I smiled and said hello. And that simple word turned into an entire conversation with a very kind woman. She shared how she spent her summers there, camping out of her car and turns out, we’re practically neighbors. We live only a couple hours away from one another. Small world!

We spent the rest of our time at the river visiting before we headed off to cook dinner, but I couldn’t get her out of my head. So the fam and I made a little extra to take to our new friend. She was so grateful for dinner and shared with me how it had been a long time since she’d eaten a hot meal. Ugh! I almost missed it, friend. I was so quick to judge that I almost missed getting to make a new friend and show her the love of Jesus.

How many times I’ve wandered through a bookstore and looked right past an incredible book because I didn’t like the cover.

This caused me to think of Jesus hanging on the cross. His eyes scanned the crowd through drops of blood running down His face, sketchy sinners everywhere. Those who have rejected, mocked, and beat Him standing near, watching Him suffer. But at that moment He does something unexpected; Jesus stayed on the cross. He didn’t call angels down from heaven to rescue Him. He stayed. He stayed for the sketchy sinner; He stayed for the mockers and those who beat Him. He stayed for the broken and the hurting. The lame and the weak. The rich and the poor. He stays for you and for her. And He does it all so that we can have a relationship with Him, the very one we nailed to the cross of Calvary.

He wants a relationship with us. He doesn’t judge us by our cover. He sees our cover and covers us with His love. And He longs for us to love our neighbor in the same way.

You will never know how incredible a book may be unless you look past the cover and open it up.

“This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.” — John 15:12 (CSB)

Cassie Downs, formerly of the Ellsinore area, is a speaker, author of Chasing Jesus, a 60 day devotional, and founder of Everyday Jesus Ministry. Connect with Cassie on Facebook, Instagram, or online at cassiedowns.com.