Proverbs 30-31

Daily Reading
Proverbs 30-31

Daily Thought

It was not "very good" in the Garden until Adam met Eve. Little wonder, then, that a book of wisdom written by male mentors to young men is not complete without a portrait of a godly wife; "an excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels" (Proverbs 31:10). What follows is a composite of qualities worthy of praise, and indeed should be--"her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her" (v 28). Unlikely, however, that they rose before her, "she rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens" (v 15). 

Read these twenty-two verses detailing her day (Proverbs 31:10-31) and you are worn out by the end. The description of this multi-talented, hard-working, strong, wise, wonderful woman may be hard to live up to, but it is a picture of the ideal, and it is written to the man, not the woman. Rather than a checklist to attain, this is a portrait to correct the image young men might have of their ideal woman--"charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (v 30). The last half of the last chapter of Proverbs is devoted to the description of a worthy wife. It took the previous thirty chapters to build a man worthy of her. 

Daily Prayer

My Creator, You made me in Your image, male and female You made us. What a grand plan. Man and woman, husband and wife, together displaying Your glory.

God, may I honor You by loving my spouse. May I display Your wisdom in my marriage.

Amen