Reading Proverbs 31 is like opening up a treasure box. Dazzling, "out-of-this-world" wisdom, sparkles like necklaces with which we can adorn ourselves.
As God's girls, it's an open invitation to dive into this chapter and apply it to our lives.
The well of His Word goes so deep, and when we take time to meditate on this chapter we can get lots of revelation! Here are some thoughts about the first few verses...
“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.”
When
Jesus stretched His arms wide on the cross, and bled and died for us, He
loudly proclaimed our worth.
Sister, you are priceless.
Before the cross, we were sinful, ugly, wretched and ashamed...but
He has bestowed upon us His beauty and His value. Now we are
royalty! This is mind blowing! We are worth more than rubies,
sapphires, gold, or anything of value in this world. Jesus said if a
man trades his soul for the entire net-worth of this world, he would
make a terrible trade.
Just for fun, I grabbed my calculator
& added up the net-worth of some of the world's richest people.
Just how much money was Jesus talking about? Once I got up to 74
billion dollars, I was so amazed. Jesus said if we were to trade our soul for 74 billion dollars, we would get totally ripped
off...because each of us is worth more than 74 billion dollars!
The
price tag on my soul is so costly that no one could match it or surpass
it...except for the Darling of Heaven, the Son of God! We don't need
anyone or anything in this world to give us our value. We are already
so, so priceless.
“The
heart of her husband safely trusts her, so he will have no lack of
gain.”
Our Maker has proudly called Himself our husband
(Isaiah 54:5). After making such a huge investment in us (the very
blood of Jesus!) you'd think he'd be a little nervous about how we're
going to make Him look. How will we affect His Name and the glory of
His Kingdom?
It says here that He will have no lack of gain.
The investment that He has made in us, the Seed of His Word, the Seed
of Christ, will produce life and fruit! His love will multiply itself
through us if we remain humble and hungry! I don't want to be a
selfish princess bride who consumes and spends up the glorious riches
of His grace, thinking the world revolves around “mwah!” I
want to be a princess bride who is willing to become pregnant with
the things of God, letting patience and endurance have its perfect work
in my life, sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings, and giving birth
to nothing but love.
I want to be a fruitful bride and a
co-laboror with Christ. I want Him to trust me, and share His secrets
with me!
“The secret of the Lord is with those who fear
Him” Psalm 25:14.
I desire to be a good and faithful
steward of what He has entrusted to me. I want to be obedient to His
great commission and live a life worthy of my royal position. Jesus
paid much, much too high a price for me to waste His blood in
selfishness and apathy! “She does him good and not evil, all
the days of her life.”
“She
seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands.”
Being
a fruitful bride is not an automatic thing. God said, “You will
seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29:13)
Seeking takes effort. Opening our Bibles,
opening our hearts, praying, worshiping, and spending time with the
Lord takes effort. We can't do it just when we “feel” like it. We
must willingly spend our energy on Him. The reward is so, so great.
When we find Him, the prize is far greater than anything that we may
have to “sacrifice” or give up, in order to gain the precious
prize of fellowship with Jesus!
“She
is like the merchant ships, she brings her food from afar.”
I
like to imagine regal ships with big fluffy white sails, gliding
across the universe in the Spiritual Realm, bringing everything that
I need to live out “mission impossible” ( being His princess bride). He
has promised to give me everything I need for life and godliness. (2
Peter 1:3) He will provide for all of my needs, according to His
riches in glory. He is the King of Heaven! He is the answer to every
problem and every need. As citizens of Heaven, it is our privilege
and responsibility to bring answers to this earth, using Heaven's
resources.
When we dive in and dine on the Word of God,
enjoying the banquet table of truth that is set before us...we are
bringing exotic foods, spices, and treasures from a far away land.
All the way from Heaven! The world will marvel, and wonder where such
beauty, wisdom, and virtue comes from...and we can proclaim that it
all comes from our King!
“She
considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a
vineyard.”
I see two things in this verse.
First of
all, it reminds me of the parable Jesus told about the man who found
a treasure in a field. After he found it, he sold everything so that
he could buy that field. “So it is with the Kingdom of Heaven,”
Jesus explained. "Once you encounter the King, you will happily
give up everything, to have all of me!”
When we catch
glimpses of just how amazingly beautiful and worthy our King Jesus
is, it puts our whole life in perspective. All of a sudden, those
things that hurt and were so unbearable, don't sting quite so badly
anymore.
When we suffer persecution, or rejection and betrayal from
a friend, we remember the One who suffered the ultimate blow. When
we're lonely, we remember the One who stepped down from Heaven, left
His Perfect Father, and lived in this broken world. When we're
exhausted and weary, we remember the One who promised that His
strength would be our own.
When we think about who He is,
and how dearly He loves us, obedience and surrender doesn't look so
radical anymore. In fact, it looks quite reasonable!
“I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Romans
12:1
Secondly, we see that the Proverbs 31 woman has guts. She
knows how to make decisions. She considers a field, and boom, she
buys it. She makes a move. She steps out in faith. She plants a
vineyard, bears fruit, and makes a difference in this world.
We,
as God's daughters, cannot let fear stop us from moving forward. When
His Spirit is leading us to make a move, let's do it. No fear. No
hesitation. Just total boldness and obedience. Proverbs says that the
righteous are bold as a lion. The Proverbs 31 woman is fierce.
“She
girds herself with strength, she strengthens her arms.”
Sisters,
if you only get one thing out of this entire passage, get this: we
are living in a time on this earth, where we must be prepared for
what is coming. We are truly living in the last days, and things are
bound to get a little bit (or a lotta' bit!) crazy. We must gird
ourselves with strength, press into Jesus, spend lots and lots of
time in His Word, and in His presence. We must strengthen our arms,
our faith, for the days ahead.
I really encourage you to
make it priority to spend more time with the Lord than you ever have
before! When we do, He trains our hands for battle (Psalm 144:1 ) and
equips us for what is ahead.
“She
perceives that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out
by night. She stretches her hands to the distaff, and her
hand holds the spindle.”
This is truly a woman who knows how
to get things done. She has a spirit of diligence, not
laziness.
She doesn't have a slave master, telling her what
to do, nagging on her to get things done.
She simply sees a
need, knows she has the answer and resources from Heaven and does it.
Sister, if there is something stirring in your heart, a business you
feel the Lord wants you to start, a Bible study He wants you to
initiate, a friend whom He wants you to tell about Jesus...then just
do it! Take that first step forward, and then be persistent.
As
daughters of the King, we must harbor an unstoppable determination deep in our spirits. We must have the tenacity of a bull dog, that
will not let go until the job is done! Just hold your hand to the
spindle and keep it there until it is time to let go!
“She
extends her hand to the poor, yes she reaches out her hands to the
needy.”
Our Father's heart is to give extravagantly.
He doesn't just fill up our cups. He fills us up so that we're
running over. He truly is a too much God! His benevolent heart is so
overwhelming. Experiencing the fullness of God would be like pouring
the ocean into a cup. Our little human vessels can only experience a
fraction of who He is while we are on this earth. If He were to blast
us with the fullness of who He is, we would totally fall over and
die! He is just WAY too amazing!
We can rest in total confidence
that He is more than enough, and He will never run out!
Shouldn't
our hearts look like His? Shouldn't we give in a way that is totally
crazy and unrealistic? Shouldn't we pour ourselves out like a drink
offering to this world? To our friends, family, and the poor and
forgotten?
Our generation has such a spirit of entitlement
and selfishness that needs to be broken off of us. The best way to do
that is to give until we have nothing left. Even though attempting
to out-give God is totally impossible, we can sure have lots of fun
trying! He will always replenish and fill us back up to
overflowing...so let's extend our hands and GIVE!
“She
is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is
clothed with scarlet. She makes tapestry for herself; her
clothing is linen and purple.”
As girls, we spend plenty of
time getting ready in the morning. Hair, makeup, and choosing a
totally adorable outfit. But what are we daily dressing our hearts
with? How much time do we spend washing and grooming the inside?
It
is my prayer that we will wrap ourselves with the truth of our royal
identity. Just like Esther put on her royal robes, let's fill our
minds and hearts with the truth of who Jesus is, and who we are in
His eyes. We are washed with the water of His word, dressed in robes
of righteousness, clothed in the scarlet blood of Jesus Christ, and
royal clothing of love.
~*~