Day #135: Proverbs 31:28-31

BACKGROUND:

The Proverbs 31 woman has her children call her blessed. She is positive and optimistic and enjoys her role in life. Her husband praises her by telling others she is the greatest of the noble women.

Her secret is her godly character. She is physically charming and beautiful but those qualities are fleeting. But as a woman who fears the Lord, she is praised by her husband (v. 28) and others (v. 31).

The writer urged his readers to recognize and reward the faithful diligence and kindness of such a woman. She along with her husband (v. 23) should be honored publicly. Honoring a woman at the gate was not normally done in Israel. But an unusual woman called for unusual recognition.

The virtues of a noble wife are those that are extolled throughout the Book of Proverbs: hard work, wise investments, good use of time, planning ahead, care for others, respect for one’s spouse, ability to share godly values with others, wise counsel, and godly fear (worship, trust, service, obedience).

As Proverbs has stated repeatedly, these are qualities that lead to honor, praise, success, personal dignity and worth, and enjoyment of life. In the face of the adulteress’ temptations mentioned often in Proverbs, it is fitting that the book concludes by extolling a virtuous wife. Young men and others can learn from this noble woman. By fearing God, they can live wisely and righteously. That is the message of Proverbs.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

I saw a bumper sticker a while ago that read - “Life is Too Precious to Waste.” The Bible says this in Ephesians 5:15-17 “Be careful how you live not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

The opposite of careful is careless. God says don’t be careless about your life. Don’t just breeze through life. Don’t just drift through life. Don’t just go through life going, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.” Be thoughtful. Be wise. Know what God wants you to do. It says, “Make the most of every opportunity.” The Proverbs 31 woman is an example of someone who spent her days well. She was careful with this one and only life that God gives.

To prepare us for the journey that lies ahead let’s think abut three questions that willhelp us be careful with the time we've been given. Ask yourself these questions today.

#1. What does God want from me?

In a nutshell He wants this: my whole life. Not part of it. He wants all of it. The Bible days in Romans 6:13 “Give yourselves completely to God since you’ve been given new life. Use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.”

There is no verse in the Bible where it says you can be a Christian and do whatever you want to with your life. It’s just not there. God doesn’t want ten percent of your life. He doesn’t want fifty percent of your life. He doesn’t want ninety-nine percent of your life. He wants all your life. All of it. What % of your life does God have today? What's holding you back from giving your whole heart and life to Him?

C. S. Lewis once said, “The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.” If it’s true – if this book, the Bible, is really true – it deserves your entire life. If it’s not true we ought to pack up and go home right now. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. It’s either your whole life or if it’s not true you ought to just chuck the whole thing and go do whatever you want to do. What does God want from you? He wants to be first in your life.

Do you want to be a success in your marriage? Put God first in your marriage. Do you want success in your family? Put God first in your family. You want to be a success in your career? Put God first in your career. Do you want to be a success in your schooling and education? Put God first in your schooling and education.

God does not bless what He’s not number one in. But He does bless in amazing ways anything that we put Him first in. What does God want? He wants your whole life.

#2. What does it take?

That’s an important question. When we hear, “My whole life” that is so big. How do I do that? How do I give my whole life to God? How do I plug that into my life? That is a concept that is so big that when you hear, “Give your whole life to God,” my first thought is “How am I going to get started? I don’t even know where to begin.” What does it take to do that?

God tells us where to begin. I can tell you what He says in one word. But you’re not going to like the word. It’s not our favorite word, this word. It’s a word that we try to avoid. It’s a word that most of us try to keep out of our lives and not let into our lives. The one word is, Discipline.

God tells us that discipline is the way to life. Proverbs 10:17 says “Whoever practices discipline is on the way to life.” There’s something about God’s kind of discipline that brings life to us. The truth of the matter is you cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ without being disciplined. The two words go together. It takes discipline. Spiritual discipline to be a disciple of Jesus.

1 Timothy 4:7 says, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” What does this mean? The word “discipline” means a lot of different things to different people. What I’m talking about is delayed gratification. That’s what discipline is. Basically it is doing the difficult now to enjoy the benefit later. Doing the thing I don’t want to do or don’t feel like doing now to see the benefit that comes into life later.

I know some of you think, “I’m just not a very disciplined person.” Let’s have a little true confession. I’ll be the first to put my hand up. Some of you are sitting there so haughty! “I’m disciplined!” Good for you. But if you’re not basically a disciplined person what do you need? You need God. He will give you the help and the power.

What does God want? He wants you. He wants your whole life. What does it take? It takes discipline. It takes habits. It takes doing some spiritual exercises.

#3. Why should I do it?

Why should I put forth the effort? There are many, many benefits which we could spend hours on. Benefits both here and now in your life – what it will do for you now. And for eternity – on and on and on forever. But even if there were no more benefits than your salvation which you’ve already received – even if there were no more benefits – it would still be worth it to give your whole life to God for one reason: the cross.

Jesus gave His life completely for you and He wants your life completely in return. When He gave Himself completely for you it settled your eternal destiny – home in heaven forever and ever and ever. If God never did another single thing for you, you still owe Him your entire life just because of the cross. Without the cross you would be hopeless, dammed, with no future. But because of what Jesus did on the cross, you have freedom, you have hope, you have security, you have an eternal destiny and you owe God your entire life because of that.

Ponder these truths today. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.