From Drab to Delightful

"Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."   - Psalm 27: 11-13 (emphasis added)

   The portion I bolded in the above passage is primarily what I want to discuss :) In the Hebrew language, one of the literal meanings of the word "goodness" in this passage, is "beauty". The Psalmist here writes about his pursuit of the beauty of God. He desires the faultless refinement that only the Lord can give.

   As a newly-wed housewife does to a mis-matched bachelor pad, she rids the house of plain items and replaces them with pleasant ones. When she spends time making her dull house an attractive home, she is ushering in beauty and warmth. This is what happens when Christ comes into our lives; he takes our filthy rags and replaces them with His perfect righteousness. Before Christ, we are repulsive and distasteful, but once we are filled with His glory, we become new, fresh, and appealing.

   As a follower of Christ, we should continually be filling our minds with things that are good, pure, noble, and beautiful. When we meditate on the things of Christ, we are pursuing His holiness and His peerless beauty. It is important to break any habits you have or thought patterns that are unpleasing or unglorifying to God. Take those trashy areas of your life, lay them at the feet of Christ, and ask Him to fully replace them with His irreproachable beauty.  

   Find an unkempt corner of your home today and purpose to rid it of its shabbiness. Practice making the world around you delightful and appealing. Value the things that are lovely and always pursue the beauty of Christ.