“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is a saying we use to stress that we shouldn't judge someone or something based only on what we see on the outside or only on what we perceive without knowing the full situation.

Studies have shown that we form an impression of someone we meet in one tenth of a second! (https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/how-many-seconds-to-a-first-impression)

Apparently, that first impression doesn’t change easily either. It can take some good quality time with an individual to realise that perhaps they are different from what we originally thought.

In a similar way, many people have formed an impression of the Bible without actually reading it. These impressions can come from what we hear, see or read – particularly in the media.

The Apostle Paul, when trying to teach people in the first century about the Good News (the Gospel), encountered a lot of opposition. But there was one group of people who were willing to examine what he said rather than rejecting it out of hand…

“And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” (Acts 17:11, NLT)

The Bible tells us that God has a plan for our Earth, to bring peace, justice and happiness to all. Conditions will be far better than what we are experiencing now, which just seems to be one problem after the other.

Surely, it’s worth looking past the cover of your Bible to check if this is true?