Day Six: THE ATTRACTION
[The Beloved speaks:] “Like a lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters.”
[The Bride replies:] “Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods,
So is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. . . .
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm;
For love is as strong as death. . . .”
—SONG OF SOLOMON 2:2–3, 8:6
Beauty serves a practical purpose in a divine world: beauty attracts us. In a crowded room, we gravitate toward what attracts us. In a crowded world, there is no neutrality; we move toward beauty. All of the natural world operates on this principle. Beautiful colors attract bees and birds to flowers. Humans instinctively turn toward the sunrise and sunset and inhale quietly as we mark another passage of time by the beauty of the skies. Beauty orients us in the world, pulls us in, and pushes us to search for what has been lost. We want to surround ourselves with it, lavish in it, and soothe our frazzled nerves by it.
But beauty only begins the foundational work of love. A single stone is not a building but a beginning. It can offer no shelter, no warmth, no rest. Likewise, beauty can only offer itself to be built upon. What we build on it—deep, lasting love—is a force as strong as death itself.
Beauty attracts us, but it is the love we build on it that makes us truly beautiful in another’s eyes. Physical beauty is a lovely spark that catches the eye but disappears in a moment’s breath. It is love that catches the spark and feeds it, fans it, until it glows and burns, creating a steady fire that lights a new generation.
Ask: God, show me how to build love in my life.
Believe: Love makes me incredibly beautiful, and God promises I am incredibly loved.