Daily Reading: Amos 9, Proverbs 31
Amos 9:13 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.”
I’m trying to imagine this. The plowman overtaking the reaper I guess would mean that the harvest is so great it cannot all be gathered before plowing time. Think of it. A harvest so vast it takes all fall and winter to bring it in. I like that.
Proverbs 31:1 “The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.”
This morning I thought of the significance of this verse. We, as Christian women, are often shown this verse to teach us how to be good wives, mothers and women of God. But this very first verse says that it wasn’t for a woman that these words were first taught, it was for a man. I don’t want to minimize the value of these verses for women but I would say that they need to be taught to men just as fervently as they are to women. Young men need to know what to look for in a wife. They need to know what is valuable and what is worthy of their attention. Also…I think that I, as a mother, need to be the one teaching this to my son. Of course my first lessons need to be by example, but when he is older I need to go through these verses with him and explain to him the modern day example they set for him.
Just as you hear men say things like, “I know exactly what that boy is after…it was the same thing I was after at his age.” Women know flirtation and manipulation when they see it. We are sensitive to when another woman is trying to get the attention of our man much sooner than he is. We are sensitive to when a woman is trying to get the attention of any man. We see it, recognize it and gossip about it. Aren’t we cool? I want to teach my son, not only to recognize these things, but to discern the heart behind all of it. If a good girl is trying to get his attention…he should know it and respond correctly. If a bad girl is trying to get his attention he should know it and run away!
Proverbs 31:31 “Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Teaching young men what is virtuous would also include teaching them how to treat a virtuous woman. I think this verse proves that women are hungry for affirmation. We are like men in that respect. Men need to know that women respect them and women need to know that they are loved, and admired. They need respect too but it’s a different sort of respect. Give her the opportunity to share who and what she is, show her that you trust her by allowing her to prove what she can do. Women are not out to best their man when they are given the chance to just enjoy what they do and allow other people to admire their work. We, as women, need to see results in what we do. We are fulfilled by knowing that we have been what God has called us to be…a helpmate. If we are never told that we helped or if we never see the fruit of our hands, we will find that fulfillment elsewhere.