She
rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household and portions
to her maidens. (NASB)
The sun sets and
rises and people move about their daily life---eating, working, eating,
working, eating, sleeping. And then rising to do it all again. From Ecclesiastes 2:11, “Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the
labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind
and there was no profit under the sun.” Is our life all in vain?
The Proverbs’ lady
gets up in the dark, getting her family’s breakfast started as the early
morning light streams over the hills and into her kitchen window. Her menu
plans and meal preparations are all in order—she knows what she is preparing
and has all the ingredients at hand. She doesn’t wait until she gets up to
decide to fix. Her activities are planned out—not in vain. Mrs. Proverbs loves
her family and her servants. She wants them to succeed in the day that is about
to begin, so she fixes them a good breakfast. We all know that breakfast is the
most important meal of the day.
Serve up some
scripture with breakfast. Starting with devotions is a spiritually healthy way
to begin the day. In Matthew 6:11 we read the familiar verse, “Give us this day our daily bread.” That
includes spiritual food as well as physical food. Incorporate this along with
Psalm 3:5, “In the morning, O Lord, You
will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly
watch.” In addition, Jesus gave us an example, “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the
house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there,” Mark
1:35. Years ago I was taught to spend seven minutes with God in the morning to
start my day. The first 30 seconds of that time are just to quietly reflect on
who God is, what my relationship is with Him, and confession if necessary. The
next four minutes are spent reading scripture, and then the final time is for
spontaneous prayer and praise reflecting on the scripture read. Can you arrange
your morning schedule to include seven minutes with God? Spiritual food is
usually scripture, but it can be other religious writing that provides
guidance, encouragement and direction. In the Proverbs 31:15 passage it is
possible that Mrs. Proverbs is serving up some spiritual nourishment, too.
Proverbs 31:30 tells us that she fears (respects) the Lord. At the time this
passage was written, perhaps by King Lemuel (which may have actually been
another name for King Solomon), sometime between 950 and 700 BC there may have
been copies of the Torah or Pentateuch, the first five books of what is now
known as the Old Testament, but it is certain that God’s word was passed on as
an oral tradition. As a good Proverbs wife she would know the oral tradition and
likely passed it on to her children and servants.
Do you pass on to your family whatever you know about God and the Biblical heritage that is so richly ours?
©
2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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