Make it beautiful!

While mowing the lawn yesterday, I whistled and smiled which is not always my mood when I am engaged in that task. Why the happiness? Because I was thinking what a privilege it was to be able to make my little ½ acre a little more attractive in this corner of the world. Whether we are speaking of the state of our lawn or our heart, we need to remember that it takes effort to create beauty! Weeds grow quite well without fertilizer, don’t they? Sin flourishes similarly in my heart. Rebellion, envy, and selfishness spring up just like the dandelions that seem to appear overnight. When the rain does not fall, the grass in my lawn dries up, but the broadleaf plantain does just fine! Without consistent water of the Word, the fruit of the Spirit withers in my life, but the sinful nature does just fine!

I love Isaiah’s prophecy about the beautiful destiny of those who are the people of God. He says that He will "provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." (Isaiah 61:3, NIV)

Now, note the response of those so loved. "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations." (Isaiah 61:10-11, NIV)

Pray that the Lord will make your life one in which the “beauty of His holiness” is on display today. Don’t confuse the pinched, self-created ‘holiness’ taught by some with the real holiness of the Lord. There is a kind of holiness that focuses on the superficial, that is built solely around rigid regulations of human behavior. It is ugly! Jesus, when interacting with the Pharisees, who specialized in external forms of ‘holiness,’ said that they were “whitewashed tombs!” In scathing terms He rejected their ‘holiness’ as anything but good or godly.
"Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, … You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required." (Matthew 23:5-6, 23, The Message)

Let me leave you with a promise of greater Glory! As you read these words I invite you to give the Lord full access to every corner of your life. Invite Him to prune and beautify, so that His beauty is on full display today.
"You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." (1 Peter 2:9-11, NIV)
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Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wonderful passion and purity;
O Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine
‘Til the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

Public Domain—Orsborn