You observe a shiny new car. You look through a 5,000 square feet custom-built home. You stare at a shapely and physically fit young lady. Now you just can’t seem to get her image out of your mind. Each of these observations may well bring you to the point of saying, or at least thinking, “What a beauty!” As the proverbial saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” In other words, beauty is whatever the observer personally deems to be beautiful. Each of the aforementioned things indeed have their relative degrees of beauty.

After encountering new people and things, we use our past experiences to judge their beauty—the degree of pleasure and enjoyment they bring to us. Having made our assessments, we reach a personal conclusion regarding the person’s or thing’s relative beauty.

That being said, I’d like to suggest to you that there is a beauty which transcends anything that you can see with your natural eye. This beauty is absolutely incomparable, outlasting and far surpassing the temporal “eye candy” by which many-a-male is ensnared. The beauty to which I’m referring is none other than the beauty of the LORD.

The psalmist declared that beholding this beauty is one of the foremost things he’d desired. He even deemed it worthy of being sought after (Psalm 27:4). This is a beauty that is truly beyond merely natural comprehension, for it’s apprehended by the inner you (your spirit) and grows to permeate and overtake your soul.

So how about you? What is it that has so stirred your imagination, warmed your affections, and captivated your heart that you find yourself constantly seeking to behold it? Have you yet come to realize that all the things this world has to offer do not satisfy and cannot compare with that which is found only in a whole-hearted relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? The world’s offerings are fleeting, but Christ’s blessings are enduring. I pray that you’d come to understand that life is too short to preoccupy yourself with things which are of no lasting value and of no enduring pleasure.

You might ask, “How is it that one might go about apprehending this beauty of the LORD?” I commend you for your inquiry, and I believe there are three things which will be of great benefit to you in your quest to behold the beauty of the LORD.

You’ll first of all need to realize that in order to behold the LORD at all, it is essential that you come to know the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s only by entering into a heart-transforming relationship with Him by the agency of His Spirit (Ezekiel 36:24-27) that any man can even begin to see the LORD (John 14:6-7). Apart from the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving the “new birth” which comes through Him (John 1:12-13), we’re all blind to the things of our Creator and His Kingdom (John 3:3).

” It’s only by entering into a heart-transforming relationship with Jesus by the agency of His Spirit that any man can even begin to see the LORD.”

Secondly, you’ll need to humbly and earnestly pray for His grace to cultivate within you a devotion (Romans 5:20-6:4, 12-14) that expresses itself in loyalty and obedient submission to Him. It’s as you revere the Lord Jesus that He reveals to you the secret things of God (Psalm 25:14 NKJV). Beholding the beauty of the LORD is among those secret things, for He’s not inclined to entrust things He values into the custody of those who have no appreciation for them (Matthew 7:6).

Finally, you’ll need to saturate your heart and soul with His Word to the point of finding joy and delight in Him (Psalm 37:3-4) and pursuing that which is pleasing to Him (Colossians 1:9-10; Hebrews 13:20-21). As you find pleasure in the LORD and His ways instead of the temporal and fleeting pleasures of this world, He’ll gradually open your eyes to behold greater glimpses of His splendor and majesty. You’ll ultimately come to a personal judgment that culminates with you worshipfully exclaiming, “Behold, what a beauty!” (Isaiah 33:14-17).