Bar Codes

Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.

John 7:24, HCSB

ON JUNE 26, 1974, Clyde Dawson of Troy, Ohio, placed a ten-pack of chewing gum on the conveyor belt at Marsh’s Supermarket, and cashier Sharon Buchanan did something that had never been done before—she scanned the gum, and the UPC bar code rang it up for sixty-seven cents. That pack of gum is in the Smithsonian today, and you can no longer buy a ten-pack for only sixty-seven cents.

Bar codes track, identify, and evaluate all kinds of products. With one swipe, they record purchases, update inventory, add the sales tax, and even wish you a nice day! They provide an efficient shortcut for doing business. But when we use shortcuts with people to assess their value and place, we can do some real damage. Anytime we fall back on stereotypes, prejudices, or age discrimination, we improperly evaluate people who are of great worth to God. Judging others by their outward appearance will never be an appropriate shortcut through life.

Jesus was judged and evaluated incorrectly by the people in His day. Isaiah said of Him before He was born, “He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2, HCSB). Thankfully, God judged Him worthy to be our atoning sacrifice.

BOTTOM LINE

Ask God to help you view people as He does—His much-beloved creations.

Moment of Strength: 1 Samuel 16:7