I often wonder what beauty means to God. (And if it means anything at all?) Sometimes I look at people and see the beauty they portray. If we look a bit deeper, what is the beauty you carry in your heart? God made beautiful people. He made us according to His image. But the image is not just the external as we perceive it. 1 Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Have you examined the beauty of your own heart lately?
In Bible study we are working through the book of Esther. Though I've read it multiple times, there was a certain part that just jumped of the page: Esther 2:12 "Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women."
These women received beauty treatments for A YEAR before they could meet the King. I felt a sudden pang of jealousy when I looked at my "desperately in need of a manicure" nails. I thought that the King really spoiled them and that any woman deserves to be spoiled like that!
This verse stuck in my heart and as I started meditating on it God revealed something I never would have considered. This was their PREPARATION to meet the King. For twelve months they underwent preparation to be beautiful for their presentation to the King. This can apply to our inner beauty, the beauty God created to His very own image. The beauty He sees. Am I willing to ask God for twelve months of beauty treatment for my heart? Yes I am. I want to be a prepared, beautiful woman when I have to meet my King. I want to reflect His beauty, but not just for God, for the world as well. I want others to see the Beauty of God in my heart and not my own. Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised."
It all sounds sublime, but it's a bit scary too. I am opening my heart completely for the treatment and preparation God deems fit to prepare me. I do not know what the preparations are, but I do know this: God will transform my heart to a heart of inner beauty reflecting His.
Shalom Shalom,
Iriza
These women received beauty treatments for A YEAR before they could meet the King. I felt a sudden pang of jealousy when I looked at my "desperately in need of a manicure" nails. I thought that the King really spoiled them and that any woman deserves to be spoiled like that!
This verse stuck in my heart and as I started meditating on it God revealed something I never would have considered. This was their PREPARATION to meet the King. For twelve months they underwent preparation to be beautiful for their presentation to the King. This can apply to our inner beauty, the beauty God created to His very own image. The beauty He sees. Am I willing to ask God for twelve months of beauty treatment for my heart? Yes I am. I want to be a prepared, beautiful woman when I have to meet my King. I want to reflect His beauty, but not just for God, for the world as well. I want others to see the Beauty of God in my heart and not my own. Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised."
It all sounds sublime, but it's a bit scary too. I am opening my heart completely for the treatment and preparation God deems fit to prepare me. I do not know what the preparations are, but I do know this: God will transform my heart to a heart of inner beauty reflecting His.
Shalom Shalom,
Iriza