“External Adornment” by Bootsie Moore
External Adornment
And let not your adornment be external only – braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, and putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart,with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. (1 Peter 3:3-4)
This morning I was gazing at my neighbor’s home all decorated for Spring. Every holiday the yard and porch are decorated to the hilt with beautiful decorations. Now none of this is bad, I truly enjoy her spirit of celebration. Actually in that respect she puts me to shame. I often think I should make more effort to adorn my home for these holidays but never seem to. I have much to learn from her in that respect. I wonder how many times do I spend all of my efforts on my body and leave the soul unadorned.
The more I ponder these thoughts the more convicted I become of the need to adorn my soul with Jesus. Often my soul is barren and I fill myself with things that do not feed it but occupy my time. We often neglect our soul and tend our bodies with vitamins, exercise and things that build it up while our bible sits silently on the table.
Prayer:
I ask you Lord to bring conviction to my spirit when I spend more time adorning the outside of myself and leave the inner man void of the fullness of Your spirit. How I desire to be more and more like Jesus and less and less like the world. Thank you Jesus for putting that hunger in my heart.
About the Author ~ Bootsie Moore
A lover of Jesus and one blessed by God to take a thought and use it to share Jesus in a very practical and simple way. I give Him all the glory for all He has done in my life.
This post was originally posted on Bootsie’s blog, Bootsie Tidbits, About Tidbits:
A vivid childhood memory is one in which I am sitting on the front porch steps cherishing new paper and pencils in anticipation of the first day of school. Blank paper, fresh unsharpened pencils with erasers in pristine condition were treasures. The only trouble with this picture is the paper would be untouched or if touched, childish stick people would emerge. My heart desire was to put something lovely on the paper. A lovely flower bouquet or maybe a landscape might be drawn. This dream never came true as a child. As an adult I took a watercolor class and the only good thing the teacher could say about my painting was that the yellow was beautiful. Of course it was because it came straight off the palette. Drawing class was a bit more rewarding as I was able to copy a pencil drawing with a modicum degree of success. I will admit though at one point I submitted a greeting card to The Rubber Stamper magazine and it was published! Several years later I realized after writing numerous “Tidbits” that God had fulfilled my dream to create on paper a work of art, but with words. Word pictures to bring God’s truths so that someone might be encouraged by them.
When I look back and see the little girl sitting on the porch steps treasuring her pencils and paper I see God’s hand on her desire to create something beautiful on paper. Thank you Lord for the beauty of words. Words that can paint a picture to show the magnificence of Jesus.
May “Tidbits” bless you who read them as much as they have blessed me in the ability to share His truths by the written word. To God be the glory for all He has done.
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