A Woman of Substance

Proverbs 31: 16-18
She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.

Good Morning, my faithful webbies!! I'm feeling a bit better today!! I had a few defeats, yesterday, but I'm repentant of them and forgiving myself and moving forward with a clean slate, today!! My girlfriends are coming to visit this morning from the Bay Area and my house isn't clean!! Surprised?? Me neither!! Sometimes, I dwell too much on the fact that I am not Martha Stewart or my Grandmother, when it comes to cleaning my house. This causes frustration because I want the house that looks like it came off of a showroom floor.....But those homes aren't lived in, they aren't loved in.....they are just clean!! Mark and I have a lot of "stuff" in a very small space, so it's always cramped. If you add a bit of normal clutter to the already cramped, you have my house!! Maybe I can get them to meet me at the new shopping center and we can just go up to Angels Camp and meet with Pastor. I'm tired today, from not feeling well, yesterday and I am really not in the mood for company!! Anyhoo enough with my complaining......On with quiet time.....
Proverbs 31:16
She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
A virtuous wife must always be diligent, in her decision making. The word considers means to gaze on steadily or reflectively and to come to judge or classify. To me, this means that when we as godly wives, are faced with any decision, that we must consider it, wisely. How many times have we made decisions, where the end result didn't turn out the way we'd hoped or envisioned?? I know that in my own life experience, there have been way too many to list or even count!! Could those not so good circumstances have been changed, if we as virtuous wives, had put on the mind of Christ and considered all, before acting? In my case, definitely. Would our profits increased, if those decisions were made wisely? I believe so.....The word profits means valuable returns. A vineyard, in the times of King Solomon, was a big deal; It provided income, for the land owner....It provided jobs for any laborers who worked the land and at the harvest, it provided a marketable product...Grapes!! Grapes were used for wine, a necessity back then, due to the lack of clean drinking water....For vinegar, which was used medicinally as well as for epicurean reasons....and the skins and flesh were used to make bigga, which is used to leaven bread. So the allegoric use of the vineyard, tells us that a wisely made decision can be of great value. I'm going to give you Lisa's Parable of the Butter, as an example. One day, I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies.....but I was out of butter. I went to the market and saw that margarine was on sale. Without thinking, I bought some and went home and made cookies with it. The cookies were so bad, no one would eat them!! I had wasted time, money and valuable ingredients due to a hastily made decision. If I'd considered it, wisely, I would have chosen the butter and made a wonderfully edible vineyard of cookies.

Proverbs 31: 17
She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
When I first read this verse, I could see my perfect, virtuous and godly wife (Imaginary of course) becoming She-Ra the Super Wife.....Kind of like a superhero transformation!! In a way, that's the truth....The word girds means to prepare for action. When we take action in something, we have to prepare for it. I always have to prepare myself for cleaning my kitchen...
and if I don't prepare myself with strength, in Christ, my kitchen will win the battle and I'll end up on the couch watching Hannah Montana with a half gallon of ice cream. Again, if we put on the mind of Christ and prepare for our task with strength, there's really nothing, we as godly wives, cannot do...from baking the perfect brownie to installing a new faucet assembly in the bathroom sink (the best book for this is Home Depots Home Improvements 1-2-3...great pictures and written in non-guy English) ((the sink, not the brownie)) The second part of this verse has to do with the strength of our arms. Having strong arms is so important for anyone these days, but it's particularly true for the godly wife. We use our arms to do laundry, to cook dinner, to tend our gardens, to run the vacuum and for many, many other things. We also use our arms to uphold our husbands....to cradle our children...to wipe away that tear or comfort one who is broken...to uplift that spirit and lift up the praises of God!! It's good to strengthen our physical arms....I do it every other day, in the gym....but it's equally important to strengthen our spiritual arms as well, with prayer and in the word, so that we can be ready to cradle, uphold and support what we need to, in the name of Jesus. So these two verses really go hand in hand. We need to prepare ourselves with the strength of God and we need to make sure that those spiritual arms carry enough strength to get what God has placed before us, done.

Proverbs 31:18
She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
A virtuous wife is an effective manager of her home. She's frugal and inventive with all of the skills God has given her. She isn't wasteful of her blessings, but uses them for the glory of her family and her Heavenly Father. As godly wives, we need to realize that we are the most valuable possession our husbands will ever have; That our "merchandise" is good!! Merchandise, meaning those things, those gifts we bring to our homes and families. Our submission, our strength, our tenacity, our love and dedication to our families and homes...these are all commodities in a Christian marriage and family....Merchandise!! In my opinion, our "lamp" is our faith, upheld by the Word of God. The Word truly is the "Light Unto Our Paths" not only for edifying us in Christ but for instruction and guidance as women, wives and mothers. Everything we need to know about living an honestly fruitful life is contained in the Bible. The Word of God is there for us, in our darkest night....a lamp that will never go out!!
I hope you've enjoyed today's quiet time.....I know I have!! I haven't yet heard from my friends, as to whether or not they are going to make it up here, today and it's already 10:30. If they don't, then no great loss....Like I said, I am still a bit on the down side, from not feeling well, yesterday!! I wish you a day of sunshine!! Know that I love you and pray for you often!! Love each other as He loves....
Many Blessings,
Lisa