No Mundane Tasks (Day 7)

Now we're looking at a day when women did not have refrigeration, so she was having to go out shopping probably every day for the ingredients needed for every day's meal. She was willing—we see a woman with a heart that's willing—to sacrifice and to make extra effort in order to adequately meet the physical needs of her family.

She's like these merchant ships, which doesn't mean she looks like a ship, it just means that, “like the merchant ships,” she goes out. The merchant ships in those days would go out and sometimes go to faraway lands to find things that you couldn't find at home. They would find these exotic or rare treasures and they would bring the treasures back for the benefit of the people who had sent them out.

It's really just a picture of the woman grocery shopping. She's interested in their health and in their well-being. As a result, she's willing, if necessary, to scout out different shops in the neighborhood or in the area to find foods that have quality—that have value. Of course, she's trying to economize for her family.

That may mean she goes to the supermarket for one stop and then she stops at Sam's to buy some bulk items less expensively, and then maybe to the produce stand to find fresh fruits and vegetables that she wasn't able to find at the supermarket.

When she gets those groceries inside, she's going to be involved in the food preparation. That's what we see in verse 15. “She also rises while it is yet night [early in the morning], and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.”

Now this is getting a little meddlesome at this part of the passage, but there is no question that this woman is an early-riser. She has to be! In those days, women had to be up long before dawn, to prepare the morning meal, which would allow the men to go to work early, so that they could come home and rest during the heat—the hottest part of the day.

But she also had to get up early because families in that culture would live mostly on bread and other foods that were made from grains, and she didn't have a supermarket to pick up a loaf of bread and those ready-made foods that we can do today. So before her family was up, if she was going to have them fed, she was going to have to start her day by grinding the grain, mixing the dough and then baking these flat bread patties on hot rocks, fire, ashes, or whatever.

So she didn't have any option. She had to get up early. Here's the thing. Godliness is not what time you get up in the morning. Godliness is doing whatever you have to do to make sure that your family's needs are met. If you don't have to grind bread, consider that a blessing! If you like to grind bread, consider that a blessing—

But this passage isn't saying you have to grind your own bread. It isn't saying that you have to set your alarm clock for three o’clock in the morning. It's saying the woman who has a heart for God and a heart for her family will do whatever she has to do to make sure that their needs are met in practical areas such as food.

This is a woman who is not slothful. She's disciplined. She lives by priorities. Keep noticing that her priorities are centered around her family and her home. I can't say it enough. This is not a woman who's living for herself. She's living for others.

Ask the Lord, "What will minister to the needs of my family? What will minister to the needs of my children? What time do I need to get up to do that?" Then ask God for grace to get up at that time or to go to bed at night in time to get up and do that in the morning.

Here is a woman who is organized. She is prepared; she's planned. She's an administrator.

Well, lest you think you don't have any servants—today, we have tons of servants, but they're mostly mechanical! We call them a dishwasher, washer and dryer, kitchen appliances, blender, and a vacuum cleaner. So we do have servants. But you know what we have to do? It's what this woman did. We have to organize them. We have to give them their task, their portion, their responsibility, and put them to work doing what they were made to do.

As we look at these verses and continue through this passage, I want you to see that in everyday, practical ways, the excellent wife—the virtuous wife, the excellent mother—is giving her family a picture of Christ and of spiritual realities. You say, "Food preparation is showing my family something about Christ and about spiritual realities?" You bet it is.

You're living out parables. You're demonstrating parables of spiritual life to your children as you work with your hands, as you serve in your home.

·         When you prepare food for your family, you're demonstrating to them that God is a faithful provider.

·         When you're being quality conscious in the things that you purchase, you're showing your children the excellence of the character of God.

·         When you're being orderly, when you get your home put back together after it pulled apart . . . Now, I'm not talking about fanatical. I'm just talking about learning to have a place for things and things getting put back in their place. As you are orderly, you are teaching your children that God is a God of order.

·         When you clean things up in your home, when you keep a clean home, you're showing your children the importance of purity, holiness of heart, of being clean and washed before God.

·         When you're disciplined in your life and habits and schedule and the time you get up and the time you go to bed according to the way that God has directed your family, - When you're disciplined, you're teaching your children that the Christian life requires discipline. You are teaching them that you can't just stay in bed and become spiritual. It requires effort and cooperation with God's Spirit to develop godly habits, patterns, and sanctification in our lives.

·         When you reach out your hands—as we'll see that this virtuous woman does—to the poor and the needy and you're ministering to the needs of others, you're showing your children the heart of God for those who are poor and needy and oppressed.

Get a vision for your work in your home. Remember as you're cleaning—as you're ironing, as you're sewing, as you're picking up, as you're painting, as you're beautifying your home, as you're doing things to make your home attractive, remember that you're painting a picture for your children—a picture of God. You're demonstrating to your children in ways that penetrate deep into their hearts, the heart of God, the ways of God, and you're increasing the likelihood that your children will grow up to love that God and to want to be like Him.

   Dear Jesus, help me to give my heart over to my home. Help me to see the rewards and blessings that are in store if I remain diligent and hard working ensuring the best environmental for my family. Help me to spend myself on behalf of Nathan and my future kids. Also, help me to wake up early! It's so practical and yet so hard! Help me to go to bed on time and still feel like I've had time with Nathan.