Proverbs 31:13-17 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 31:13-17, which read,

She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight.  She is like merchant ships; she brings her food from afar.  She rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household and portions to her maidens.  She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard.  She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong.

The queen mum is speaking to her son King Lemuel about the worthy woman to seek out as an excellent wife.  She is trustworthy and adds to his life.  She thinks and does the best for him with the length of her life with loyalty.  Now the queen mum gives her practical actions to paint this picture for her king son.

The first is that she gathers wool and flax.  These are materials for making clothes.  In the position she would be in if the king's wife, the queen, this would be unnecessary but now she is one who provides clothing by seeking out the materials and maybe even crafting the garments.  She takes the initiative on this staple of life, clothing, to seek out what is needed and performs this task with a joy in what she is doing.  Many times the routine things of life can be approached with a drudgery instead of seeing the necessity and being joyful to provide for yourself and others in such a way.  I think one of the main points that the queen mum is giving her king son is that this woman is already doing these things prior to his involvement with her.

The second is that she provides food for those entrusted to her care.  So we have clothing and now food as another necessity of life.  This woman is like the merchant ships that would bring good food from all over the world.  She is one who cares about the health of her family because to be healthy in those days was determined on what you ate.  It is still the same today.  The queen mum gives her king son another qualifier of this young lady that she searches out what will nourish the body which is a good indication that she will search out in other areas nourishing things for her family and especially in the area of our spiritual hunger.  This woman now is a learner of how to care for the physical body through what is available in God's great world.

The third is that she gives the food to those who are under her care.  She rises early probably means that she prepares it for them also.  She sets her clock earlier than the household so that they can rise to work done already by one who sees this as her love service to them.  Again, remember that these actions are probably performed by others when this woman would become queen.  She might still give orders to what is to be retrieved and how it is prepared and when the task is to be done but it might have been done by others.  She is the person who is actively caring for others in a very practical way now.  Her schedule includes the rising early so that other schedules could be met and this action on her part is to the benefit of the others.  

The fourth is that she prepares for the future.  She considers a field.  She looks it over and tests the soil.  She purchases it with the reason of planting a crop that will provide immediate food but also income from the excess food for other things needed in the family.  She has an entrepreneurial spirit about her to not see life as a cup half empty but half full.  She is asking the question, "What if we did this?" and she is planning out options for the future.  She is one who thinks ahead.  Even now this lady is saving what she is earning to reinvest it for the good of herself and others.  A vineyard was a staple in her world and providing another vineyard for the community would provide the needed juice and also jobs for others.  Even now she is using her resources wisely which would be a must when she would become queen and have endlessly resources at her fingertips.  She knows how to handle money in a way to help rather than hinder.

The fifth for today is that she has physical strength to accomplish these tasks.  She takes care of her own body so that she can take care of others.  She is putting the oxygen mask that has fallen from the compartment in the plane on her mouth first so that she can help her child get his or hers on.  As the king looks for a wife, he should look for one who cares about her physical body to complete the tasks that are before her.  

I sound like a broken record here but this women is already doing this in the environment that she is in.  Things would change dramatically when she became queen but this type of women would hopefully hold these qualities to serve well as the superior of others.  The same is true for a woman when she becomes a wife and a man when he becomes a husband.  It is a big change.  What you see that person doing now before that change of status is very important.  What you see in the attitude of that person now is very important.  How they view life and how they perform the necessities are red flags or green lights to stop or go forward.  

The queen mum is helping her king son to see beyond outward beauty and maybe character flaws that could be thought to be changed to start with someone who is already changed and following a life that has the wisdom of God in view.  Again, men don't check out here because there are plenty of lessons both ways for us to learn from.  In the game of love, both men and women have fallen for the idea that the other will change or that we can change them.  Change now to be one that honors God with your actions, attitudes, and ambitions.  Let us pray.

"Lord, many times our eyes are focused on the glamorous and not on the beauty of those loving You and loving others.  We are introduced to this lady who is thinking of others, serving others, caring about others, and preparing herself for more service to those You have put around her.  May we see that in Your eyes this is what is beautiful and become a beautiful instrument in Your hands to be used to serve.  Amen."

Pastor Adam