“Beauty is a magnet for a heart and mind—drawn in by the attraction of God’s glory.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – April 29, 2022
Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume… Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. John 12:3, 7-8
Beauty is a magnet for a heart and mind—drawn in by the attraction of God’s glory. The beauty of a sunrise and sunset warm a heart with God’s love and lights up an imagination. A newborn is a living portrait of the possibilities the Lord has for life yet to be lived. New life: the pure genius of our Master’s masterpiece of artistic brilliance, a living canvas accented in pinks and blues. The baby’s innocent beauty draws a heart toward purity and a mind to playfulness. Maybe most striking is a beautiful life, surrendered to Jesus with generous devotion and love. A beautiful life brings out the best in all other lives attracted by a life of genuine joy, grace and gratitude to God.
In the Gospel of John, beautiful Jesus, without hesitation, countered the jealous criticism of Mary’s generous love by affirming her beauty. She loved the Lord with the sweet aroma of an anointing oil that filled the home in beautiful worship. The glad heart of seeing her brother Lazarus alive caused gratitude to erupt in a passionate sacrifice of praise. Beautiful Mary, with attractive physical features and with an extraordinarily lovely life, poured out all she had to the One who had given her everything. And maybe for the first time heard from a man, with purity of intentions, how truly beautiful she was. A beautiful life celebrates the Lord’s captivating beauty.
“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).
Maybe like Mary, gratitude has griped your heart because of a loved one whom the Lord has brought back to life. It could be physical healing, or even more dramatic, a spiritual healing with its eternal significance. Set free from the grave clothes of unbelief, adorned in Christ’s confidence. Praise Him for the beauty of a life that was once spiritually blind but now sees the beauty of the Lord. Oh, how stunning is the beauty of a life alive for the Lord! “Buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life.” Never get over the beauty of a spiritually resurrected life!
With the same spirit of beautiful Mary, have you given to the Lord what is already His? All your affections, all your time, all your relationships, all your resources and all your life? Daily offering your life as a grateful sacrifice to God has a fragrant, beautiful aroma that is irresistible to a soul made for the glory of God. This is why you cannot truly rest until you give yourself permission to rest in the Lord. How? Be at home with Jesus and rest in His presence. The deep thinker and lover of the Lord, Henri Nouwen unpacks the beauty of being at rest with Jesus:
I deeply know that I have a home in Jesus, just as Jesus has a home in God. I know, too, that when I abide in Jesus I abide with him in God. “Those who love me,” Jesus says, “will be loved by my Father” (John 14:21). My true spiritual work is to let myself be loved, fully and completely, and to trust that in that love I will come to the fulfillment of my vocation. I keep trying to bring my wandering, restless, anxious self home, so that I can rest there in the embrace of love.
“Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful” (Psalm 147:1, NKJV).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I gaze on you in the beauty of your heavenly temple, through Christ’s love and in Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
Consider offering all you have to the Lord daily in a beautiful sacrifice of praise and worship.
Related Reading
Psalm 45:11; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Zechariah 9:17; 1 Peter 3:4
Worship Resource
Keith Green: Oh Lord, You Are Beautiful
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