Sunday, May 20, 2012

Different Approaches

My study of orderliness led me to study the Proverbs 31 Woman.  I have tried to study this passage before, but I struggled with the wording-- for example in verse 19 it says, "In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers."  I would struggle to understand what that had to do with my life or even what it meant.  This would lead me to commentaries and other writings about this remarkable woman.  I would be sadly disappointed each time when I would find watered down descriptions of this passage.  There is obviously a lot of challenge to this passage and much guidance on how to be a godly woman, but instead of embracing the challenge it seemed that the women I had read talk about this passage did not want the challenge because they watered it down and added inferences that I could not find anywhere in the passage-- for example one person said that the Proverbs 31 woman is really many women all described in the same passage.  That is not in the text anywhere.

This time however, I am having a positive experience with this passage.  I feel challenged and realize how far from this woman I am, but really challenged to make changes to become more like her.  Lets start by saying that the first 30 chapters of Proverbs were written by King Solomon.  However, the 31st chapter was written by King Lemuel.  He is remembering what his mother told him so he is sharing what his mother told him to look for in a good wife.  These qualities all in the same person-- not many different women.

This has made me wonder about how we read Scripture.  How many times have I read into Scripture what I wanted so I did not need to change something in my life, feel guilty about something, or just plain avoid challenge.  I want to really see what is said in the passage and adjust my life to what the Lord is saying in HIS WORD permanently.  So I want to make sure I do not water down passages, but take them on and incorporate them into my life-- even when it hurts or is not convenient.  So tomorrow morning when I look at verses 15 and 16 I want to truly examine what they mean and what that means to my life so that I can be more like the woman God made me to be. 

1 comment:

  1. I'd be interested in hearing more about your study as you go through it. Sounds interesting!

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