Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Proverbs 31 Woman part seven

Proverbs 31:16-20, "She considers a field & buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, & strengthens her arms. She perceives that her merchandise is good & her lamp does not go out at night. She holds the distaff in her hand & grasps the spindle. She opens her arms to the poor & extends her hands to the needy."       I will admit that these verses intimidated me & I spent some time googling some other Proverbs 31 studies & was blessed by that time. I also have been praying & today the Lord has given me some confidence. We don't have to understand EVERYTHING. God just wants us to be faithful & share our testimonies. These verses confirm that this woman is a cultural example of a Godly woman, & not an exact example to be copied literally. I can guarantee you that it would be a foolish idea for me to plant a vineyard out on my Wyoming prairie home. It would not survive for many different reasons.  Also, since spinning wool is NOT my idea of a fun hobby, I don't want to invest my time in that. We have wonderful thrift stores here & I am able to clothe my large family very reasonably. I do enjoy shopping very much but I have a lot of practical items to shop for & I do NOT LIKE TO WASTE money so I am price conscious about everything! I was raised by a thrifty single mother & I was the oldest of six children. I am THANKFUL for this background, though it was far from ideal, I think the Lord taught me many lessons at an early age. #1 Contentment with a minimum of material possessions, strong work ethic, & learning to help care for others at a young age.  God has been so faithful to bless my life with children & many material blessings but I have learned to choose to continue a simple lifestyle in order to be able to also give to the needy. I can be critical about how others live "in luxury" & I can get judgmental & self- righteous so I try NOT to compare myself with others but I know Jesus warned severely that we must NOT live a selfish, luxurious lifestyle. We must help the poor (NOT the rich!)  Some of the other things I do to live simply & stretch my budget; a LOT of cooking from "scratch", buy furniture at garage sales, keep a wood/coal stove going in the winter, avoid redecorating & home improvement projects(not that my house couldn't use a few!).  What I see in the Proverbs 31 woman, is that she did NOT live a lazy, luxurious lifestyle even though she could have. She was industrious & God blessed the work of her hands but she cared well for others & did not live selfishly.     Love & prayers, in Jesus, Cynthia

2 comments:

  1. These are excellent observations, Cynthia! It really is important to consider the cultural contexts of the passages we're reading. I'm not going to be planting any vineyards or spinning any wool, either, but there are many other ways in which I can work hard, save money, and give to others. Thank you so, so much for sharing these wonderful thoughts!

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  2. Thanks for your kind comment on my blog post about Isaiah 60. I like your modern day equivalents to the Proverbs 31 women. I think that the lesson is to not be lazy and to be both thrifty and creative in the use of our finances.:)

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