And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
(Exodus 28:2 ESV)

Don't you love that phrase? For glory and for beauty. He mentions that again in Exodus 28:40.  God was referring to the holy garments for the priests! I must admit "beauty" isn't the first word I would associate with priests/pastors (with apologies to any who might stumble upon this blog).  

Here is the garment as described in Exodus 28, courtesy of the www.ESVBible.org. 

The instructions given to Moses were very detailed. It was exquisite and full of symbolism. Notice the phrase though: glory comes before beauty.  

Back when I was single and had my first job, I used to stop by a little dress shop by my house.  The lady who owned it imported a lot of the clothes and they fit me really well. I used to buy an outfit or two every week. It went on for a couple of years. Needless to say I had a lot of clothes - I even had the same skirt as the one pictured above without the gold bells and pomegranates. I must have single-handedly kept that shop afloat during my crazy shopping days. Being young and foolish my goal was one thing: to look beautiful. Glorifying God was the farthest thing from my mind back then.

Now that I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, my desire is to glorify Him in my daily walk. How do we do that? We glorify Him through our words and our actions. Do we act in keeping with children of God because that is who we are. I found this article from www.gotquestions.org

The offering we bring to God as we come before Him in the splendor or beauty of His holiness involves agreement, obedience, submission, and rehearsing His attributes or extolling Him. Glorifying God begins with agreeing with everything He says, especially about Himself. In Isaiah 42:5, God declares, “I am the Lord God. I created the heavens like an open tent above. I made the earth and everything that grows on it. I am the source of life for all who live on this earth, so listen to what I say.” Because of who He is, holy and perfect and true, His proclamations and statutes are holy and perfect and true (Psalm 19:7), and we glorify Him by listening to and agreeing with them. God’s Word, the Bible, is His Word to us, all that we need for life in Him. Listening to and agreeing with Him, though, will not glorify Him unless we also submit to Him and obey the commands contained in His Word. “But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts” (Psalm 103:17-18). Jesus reiterated the idea that glorifying and loving God are one and the same in John 14:15: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” 

Make no mistake God likes beautiful things or else He would not have created them. You only have to look at the sunrise or a sunset for proof of that. But glorifying God must come before anything else.

Father, help us to not put anything before you no matter how beautiful, how good, or how noble. May we always seek to glorify You first and foremost. Help us to do that today and everyday. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

[Reading from  Blue Letter Bible Chronological Plan]