BEAUTY!

BEAUTY!

Prov 31:30

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

Prov 6:24-25

24 [Wisdom will] keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

          The English word “beauty” is found in the Authorized Version of the Bible 49 times! It’s first mention is in Exodus 28:2 and refers to the embellishment of Aaron’s priestly garments. In those places where physical beauty is mentioned, it is not well praised. Beauty can be deceitful because it may hide an ungodly character.

          Not many of us can claim natural beauty. In most of us there is a perceived blemish or flaw. We may be too tall or too short; too fat or too skinny. We may have unattractive features that eliminates us from being beautiful. In fact, we can’t really say what makes beauty beautiful. Even Merriam-Webster struggles for a definition when concluding that beauty is “qualities that give pleasure to the senses.”

          Adam Clarke, in his commentary, says that the Hebrew word for beauty in Proverbs 31:30 refers to: “elegance of shape, symmetry of features, dignity of mien [demeanor] and beauty of countenance.” He goes on to say that any or all of these may be ruined by sickness or accident, suffering and death. Beauty doesn’t last. The proverb goes on to say that “a woman [or man] that feareth the Lord shall be praised.”

          Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder. Having said that, this little story comes to mind: Three people were visiting and viewing the Grand Canyon--an artist, a pastor, and a cowboy. As they stood on the edge of that massive abyss, each one responded with a cry of exclamation. The artist said, "Ah, what a beautiful scene to paint!" The minister cried, "What a wonderful example of the handiwork of God!" The cowboy mused, "What a terrible place to lose a cow!"

   --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 411.

Ps 90:17

17 And let the beauty of the Lord  our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Dear Lord, let those who look at me see the beauty of my redeemed spirit. Let them see YOU. AMEN