²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.   Matthew 6:28-29 English Standard Version

What about clothing? Jesus marvels at how human beings worry about outward appearances. Straightaway He points to the lilies of the field and challenges the human mind to consider the comeliness of these flowers.  What you see in a lily is beauty in its entirety — there are no additional artificial trappings that could make it more beautiful than it already is.

What a striking statement that “even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these”! All the silken robes, golden rings, necklaces, precious gems, and other paraphernalia for adornment are, in the mind of Jesus, pathetically inferior to the wonder and splendor of God’s creation.

Our lives are as the lilies of the field.  The totality of real beauty emanates from within;  all that we reflect to the outside world come from the growth of the innate potential that our Creator has endowed upon each of us.  If we cultivate the measure of faith, love and hope that are given to us, no worldly adornment can add to the essence of loveliness that springs forth in our lives, which in turn blesses others to the glory of God.

*** photograph by Mike_tn@flickr