Let’s read aloud the following:
Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
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.
Beauty is not only aesthetics, emotional, indulgent or subjective. When we love God, we receive faith to know he exists and loves us. And in doing so, we can see and live in the possibility of God’s beauty in our lives, in the world around us and in eternity. God’s beauty is objective – within the mystery of the Trinity, expressed through the gospel in perfect love.
Prayer: God, forgive me for the times of filling my eyes with subjective, fleeting, dysmorphic views of beauty. As we love you, fill us with your Spirit that we may daily live in the true beauty that we find in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let’s worship to “Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is” by Hillsong (click here).
-AW
