The Lord opened up His storehouses today and let snow fall…adorning the earth with pure white splendor, the delight of children. He knows how to make beautiful.

Thanksgiving approaches, Christmas nears, the year steadily moving toward its inevitable end. And my verse of the year hangs in mind.

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Titus 2

9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that

in everything they may adorn

the doctrine of God our Savior.

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Have you ever had a verse to inspire a New Year…a verse to guide and afford grace? This was mine for 2013. I am hanging on to it for the years to come. God breathed such sweet words.

I might as well tell you now that Bible study is my favorite! Study with me?!

Let’s look at another version of the Bible…

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Titus 2

9 [Tell] bond servants to be submissive to their masters, to be pleasing and give satisfaction in every way. [Warn them] not to talk back or contradict,

10 Nor to steal by taking things of small value, but to prove themselves truly loyal and entirely reliable and faithful throughout, so that

in everything they may be an ornament and do credit to

the teaching

[which is] from and about God our Savior.

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This letter was written to Pastor Timothy from the Apostle Paul to teach him how slaves ought to relate to their earthly masters.

Our Master sits above the heavens.

We do belong to God, and we are His bondservants. To be a slave of God is to be free. Aren’t we all mastered by something? May our Master be true.

These slaves were told to carry out their lives in a particular manner.

In obeying their Master purely, they would ADORN or ORNAMENT the doctrine of God our Savior.

What does it mean to adorn or ornament something? I LOVE definitions. Random fact…I probably use a dictionary 10 or more times a week. I know, I know….weird (smile).

Consider Mounce’s Expository Dictionary’s definition of the Greek word translated adorn or ornament:

“Kosmeo (hear the word cosmetics) means “to adorn, decorate, make attractive.” It can describe a state of beauty or the process of decorating something to make it beautiful… Several NT aurthors us kosmeo to describe a woman adorning herself to heigten her beauty…. Drawing on the same meaning, though more figuratively, Paul speaks of making the gospel attractive (Tit. 2:10).”

The Gospel is inherently beautiful, how could we add to its beauty? The beauty of the doctrine of our God is set on display in our life day to day when we conform to His teaching. He ornaments us. He has set us in the world to display the wonder of salvation…even the angels long to look into these things (1 Peter).

The instruction? Lay your life down on the Gospel. Show with the fullness of your life the beauty of salvation…

Don’t we all want to be beautiful, truly?

This is how a woman professing godliness makes herself beautiful with good works….

Adorn the doctrine of God. Ornament it well. In varying ways let your life reflect its beauty.

Hang your life on the One that gives life. Allowing your manner of life to reveal the beauty of His salvation.

Does your life make the Gospel look beautiful? The way you put on Jesus…..does it reveal or revoke the inherent splendor of the doctrine of God?

To adorn. To adorn the doctrine of our God. This will be our focus for the week by His grace…. If the Lord allows, join me tomorrow?