Do You Want to be Beautiful?

Psalm 29:1-2 Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,Give unto the Lord glory and strength. 2 Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Revelation 22:1-5 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

Precious Lord and Savior,

My eyes have seen incredible beauty.  I have enjoyed the natural beauty of hills and mountains for most of my life. I remember driving across the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana USA.  The mountains, cliffs, and glacier carved valleys stirred me to worship. A young fawn on wobbly feet struggling to follow its mother...  A weekday drive through the rugged landscape of the Red River Gorge... A sunset in the western horizon of the river valley of the North Fork... perhaps the most lovely valley in all of East Kentucky, my Appalachian homeland.  Thank You for natural beauty.

My granddaughter's unrestrained laughter.  My grandson's expression of delight at his first few unsteady steps.  My daughter dressed in white on her wedding day.  My wife's welcoming, loving smile when I return home from a long day.  My mother and father at prayer around family altar.  My son preaching passionately.  A group of earnest, young collegians seeking God at a revival altar.  The deeply creased face of an aged saint exalting Your name in praise and thanksgiving. Unparalleled beauty.

And then there is You!  You created beauty for our enjoyment, yet You are more radiant and beautiful than all.  William Barclay suggests that the sight of God produces perfect worship and perfect consecration (Barclay in The Revelation of John, vol. 2, 1959, p. 284).  Draw me to worship and full surrender in Your beautiful Presence right now.

But what will heaven's beauty be like?  The curse of sin will be abolished.  The corruptible will become eternally incorruptible.  The once cursed will be eternally blessed.  The infected will be made perfectly whole.  The spoiled will be made forever preserved by Your grace.  The sick will be healed. The dead will live.  Holiness shall reign. Beauty shall be the norm.  The flawed shall be perfected in You!  

Such beauty is blinding in its glory!

Make me beautiful to You.  Start that work of grace in time, and complete it in eternity.  May the beauty of Your holiness be reflected in my character today, for Your glory.

In the name of my beautiful Lord,

Amen.