“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple.” 

Psalm 27:4 (ESV)

What is the one thing you desire as you prepare to celebrate the Christmas season? Everything on the “to-do” list checked off? The gifts purchased and wrapped? More time? Rest?

Stop! Gaze Upon the Beauty of the Lord!

David’s enemies were encamped around him. He saw the chaos and the threat. He acknowledged the threat. We can also acknowledge our “to-do” lists and our struggles.

And we can turn our thoughts to the Lord as David did. His request, his prayer, was to dwell in the presence of God, to behold His beauty, and to inquire, to know more of God.

To gaze upon the beauty of the LORD.
To bask in God’s glory.

When my grandson was 4 or 5, we were taking a walk. Suddenly, he jumped, frozen, eyes focused on the concrete.

“What are you looking at?”

“The ant.”

We watched for a few minutes. I told him what I knew about ants. Five minutes later, we walked on.

In the middle of the busyness, what if we stopped for five minutes or longer to marvel at the beauty of our LORD?

During those five minutes, what if we asked the LORD to reveal more of Himself to us?

What if the five minutes of beholding God repeated itself throughout the day? Gazing on beauty we hadn’t noticed before. Seeing God in the beauty and knowing Him more intimately.

Our LORD of all, You are beautiful, and You have created amazing beauty throughout the universe. Help us to stop and see Your beauty. Prompt us to pause in the busyness of the season to turn our eyes away from the world and to focus upon You. We want to behold You and know You more intimately. Amen.

How will you gaze upon the LORD during this Christmas season?