Made Beautiful

"Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us." Ps.90:17. "How great is His Beauty!" said Zechariah. How can this beauty be upon us?....One way is by His covering us with the robe of Christ's righteousness, looking upon us as if all the Saviour's beautiful and holy life were ours, reckoning it to us for His sake. In this way He can call us "perfect through my comeliness which I had put upon thee." Another way is by giving us the beauty of holiness, for that is His own beauty: and though we never can be quite like Him till we see Him as He is, He can begin to make us like Him even now. Look at a poor colourless drop of water, hanging weakly on a blade of grass. It is not too beautiful at all; why should you stop to look at it? Stay till the sun has risen, and look now. It is sparkling like a diamond; and if you look at it from another side, it will be glowing like a ruby, and presently gleaming like an emerald. The poor little drop has become one of the brightest and loveliest things you ever saw. But is it its own brightness and beauty? No; if it slipped down to the ground out of the sunshine, it would be only a poor little dirty drop of water. So if the Sun of Righteousness, the glorious and lovely Saviour, shines upon us, a little ray of His own brightness and beauty will be seen upon us.

F.R. Havergal