Outward Appearances

Proverbs 31:30  Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.

1 Peter 3:3-4  Do not let your adornment be merely outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel - rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

In this day and age, we are bombarded constantly with ads about losing weight and exercising.  And there are endless commercials about hair color, new products guaranteed to get rid of our wrinkles and firm up our chins, and all sorts of ads about the proper foods.  Some of this is fine, and we all want to be healthy.  It is good to maintain your appearance, but not good to obsess over it.  This temple will not last forever.  It will age to a point where cosmetics do not work for us anymore.  It is more important to nurture the soul and spirit, to let God direct us in our lives, and to live a good and wholesome life. 

The inner man is what God is most concerned about.  He knows we have material needs, for we live in the world and are subject to it's nature.  But to worry over the latest fashions, and whether or not we have the proper shoes for each outfit is not something God would have us dwell on.  We need food to live.  It is good to nurture the body and keep it healthy for that is our temple and our spirit should direct us in the proper direction.  To drive through a fast food restaurant several times a week is not profitable.  It costs less to buy good food at the supermarket and fix food at home that is nutritious and good for us.  I understand that sometimes we are so busy that we forget to lay something out for dinner and we are forced to buy something already prepared.  But if you have food in the freezer, and you have to work every day and have a hectic schedule to keep when you get off work, if you have the money to buy a crock pot, you can put food on the night before, put the inner portion of the crock pot in the fridge and in the morning when you get up, pop it in the heating portion of the crock pot and dinner will be ready when you get home.

It is more important to pray and nurture your own body, and seek to please God in all you do.  It is said in the Bible that God clothes the lilies in the fields with beauty that Solomon could not attain to.  If God clothes the lilies of the field in such splendor, will He not also clothe you?  For he knows you have need of clothing....   We worry about material possessions far too much and too little about the person we are on the inside. 

These bodies will pass away one day and return to dust from which they were made.  Only the soul lives eternally.  I want to live forever with God.  Don't you?  I want to be pleasing in what I think and say and do.  Not only my outward appearance.  I am 65 and of course have wrinkles and sags in places where I'd rather not have them.  When I was young I was fairly attractive.  But it is my spirit that God wants to find attractive, and believe it or not, the way you live your life shows up on your face as you age.  If you live a spiritually sound life and give thanks to God for your many blessings, and face all the hard things we all go through, with faith and trust in God, He will see us through.  There are many aspects in life that we don't know how to handle until we are faced with it.  Then, if we have trusted our God to see us through and share the good times with us as well as the bad, we come through with the assurance that all will be well, and even death loses it's sting.  I use to fear death, but now I know that I will pass from this body and into Heaven with God when it is my time to go.  I don't want loved ones to grieve, but to be aware that I am in a better place and am at peace and full of joy.  It would have helped me immensely when my Mother passed away if I had been more aware that she was also in a good place and reunited with her own loved ones that went before her.  I was unable at the time to deal well with her passing and I wish I had been stronger.  But God saw me through and gave me the support I needed from my family members. 

There's so many beautiful things in life to enjoy as well as sorrow.  Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad that Jesus loves us and has prepared a place for us the likes of which we could never have dreamed of.  Know in your heart, regardless of age and appearance, that Jesus loves you just the way you are.  You will be clothed with glory in paradise, and to know that Jesus will be there waiting for us gives me hope and assurance that this life is to prepare me for the life hereafter.  I love the Lord and have been aware of Him in my life for many years.  He has given me a quiet spirit, and I am thankful for his Holy Presence in my life.  Give Him your spirit to work with and He will make you beautiful on the inside, where it counts.