Beauty Is In The Eye of the Beholder?

¹⁵ Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah. ¹⁶ Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. (Genesis 24:15-16)

Rebekah was very beautiful! We read that the bible also pointed out that Sarah was earlier and soon we will read about Rachel, Esther, Abigail, Bathsheba, Tamar, etc.

We also read about Samson who might have looked like he spent every waking moment at the gym.  We will read of Saul whom the writer says “His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.”  (1 Samuel 9:13)

I wonder why the writers have to make this point. We can go on and on about how the world glorifies beauty today. Admit it, you use the most flattering picture of yourself to use as your Facebook profile picture. That is unless like me, you can not find one so you use an record album cover.

Like previous days, our readings for today have been rich with things we can learn. I kept wondering why beauty was so important to mention so I started searching some, did not find a clear answer, but I landed here:

³⁰ “Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
      but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.”  (Proverbs 31:30)

Today I want to offer praise to you women who fear the Lord. Thank you for modeling for our daughters what real beauty is! Thank you for modeling the wife that we want our sons to have! Thank you for filling the gap that a LOT of men should be filling! Lastly, thank you for putting up with us men!

Today's readings: Genesis 21:8-23:20, Genesis 11:32 and Genesis 24:1-67

Have a wonderful weekend!