She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
(Proverbs 31:10-31)
I could pick this bit of scripture apart, but you can do that yourself. Many people would read this passage and conclude that a wife is meant to work hard all the time and never sleep, but I don't think that's what it's getting at. I think the main point is that an "excellent wife" is a kind, love-filled bride who is not afraid to serve and work with confidence of success.
Here's an abbreviated list of attributes of an excellent wife in this passage:
- Strong
- Dignified
- Courageous, even in the face of scary things (1 Peter 3:6)
- Imagines big things, and is not afraid to carry them out
- Hardworking
- Kind
- Laughs a lot
- Good teacher
- Not afraid of the future
- BLESSED
The most important thing about the wife here, however, is that "the heart of her husband trusts in her" and "he is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land." An excellent wife makes her husband known simply by her existence, and he trusts her intimately with his whole heart.
As you might have guessed, I'm not really talking about earthly marriage here.
The Church is the excellent wife of Jesus. When we are walking out the courage, joy, peace, and simple blessedness He won for us at the cross, we can't help but achieve big dreams, because His dreams are big. And when the world sees us walking in the light of His love, He will become more and more known "in the gates," where people of influence sit, those who have the power to open the gates to the gospel.
Jesus didn't just die so we could get to heaven, or we would be taken up like Elijah at the moment of salvation. He died so we could bring heaven to earth.
Don't miss this: Jesus' excellent wife is confident in her success because she is fully persuaded that her husband, who gave her the commission and cover to do everything she does, will bring it to pass. He has given her everything she needs: His Spirit. What is more intimate than a God who gives His own Spirit to the ones He loves? Is there anything more precious He could give you to convince you of His love for you?
The problem with many of us in the Church is that we believe lies about our union with Christ. Somebody (cough cough...Satan) convinced us treat it like an arranged marriage. We walk down the aisle because someone told us we had to. Many of us pay about as much attention to Jesus as we do to our stocks and accounts, because we consider Him an investment. Many others are afraid to trust Him completely, because we believe that, at the last minute, He just might back out of the deal. Some of us come to the wedding ceremony counting the cash in our dowries, as if we are going to bring something to God that makes us worthy. We try to earn His favor because we think we are worthless. There are multitudes in the Church who simply don't know Him: we are married to a stranger. As a result, we treat our marriage to Him like a contract and not a covenant. We are scared to death of the moment our groom lifts the veil, because He might not like what He sees.
But Jesus doesn't want a cool, anesthetized, contractual concubine. He wants a passionate, devoted, till-death-do-we-part bride. Church, you are that bride. And, like a groom mad with love, He will pursue you to make you His own. (I realize that might sound kind of weird to the guys reading this, but hear me out.)
He is Savior, Redeemer, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Emmanuel, Righteous Branch, Prince of Peace...the list goes on and on. But I like to think that the role He derives the most joy from is Bridegroom, because it seals His relationship with His beloved. Jesus labels Himself "Bridegroom" because marriage is the most intimate realm of relationship that we can understand. Obviously it doesn't work the same way as earthly marriage, but He uses this metaphor to give the closest example of absolute devotion, familiarity, commitment, and communion He can.
Don't believe the lies. Jesus is not an abusive or distant husband. He is a passionate Bridegroom who gave His life for His Bride. He loves you, and He's in it for the long haul.
No comments:
Post a Comment