EXODUS 36:1-7
When we decide to build a new house, we hire skilled builders to create something functional and beautiful.
Beauty in church buildings is not always a high priority. Some people find any ornament or decoration in the church a waste. But that was not the attitude of God when He established a place of worship for the ancient Israelites. He did not commission anyone to pitch an ordinary tent, but instead appointed skilled artisans to adorn the tabernacle with intricately woven tapestries and intricate ornaments.
Beauty was important then because it reminded people of the value of God in their worship. During the dry and dusty days of wandering in the wilderness, they needed a reminder of the majesty of God.
The beauty that God’s people have created in places of worship today can serve the same purpose: we offer our best talents to God because He is worth it. Beauty also gives us a picture of heaven and whets our appetites for what God is preparing for us when we get there.
🎵 “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him the Lord is his name.”
(John S. B. Monsell)
