Burunche’s Blog

Genesis 3:1-7 The Serpent’s Deception (Romans 5:12-21)

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat of any tree in the garden?’”

The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.” 

Once more, we face a story that might or might not be literally true; however, we can still learn from it. In the beginning, Satan rebelled against God and fell from heaven, taking one third of the angels with him. Isaiah 14:12-15 tells us, ““How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”

Having fallen from grace, Satan wants to corrupt humanity. Notice the temptation. The temptations is not sexual or sensual but the lure of hidden knowledge, the knowledge of good and evil. And note Satan’s argument. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat of any tree in the garden?’”  Satan already knows the answer, but Eve falls into the trap. ”You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

Satan tells the truth up to a point but twists God’s purposes. Until now, Adam and Eve have experienced nothing but good from God; now Satan is accusing God of deliberately withholding something good. Satan is subtly accusing God of evil. At this point, Adam and Eve should know God well enough to tell Satan that they trust God, but they don’t. The lure of forbidden hidden knowledge is too strong. Even though Eve has traditionally been blamed, obviously, Adam is right there next to Eve and just as anxious to get forbidden knowledge as Eve is. At no point does Adam speak up and confront the serpent or caution Eve to back off. Why doesn’t Adam speak up? The real temptation here is to rebel against God and to be like God. Why doesn’t Adam respect God’s commands? Adam is convincing himself that he can eat that fruit without God ever knowing.

You might well ask why God ever placed that tree in the Garden in the first place or if this story ever actually took place. Arguing about the literal truth of this story is worthless and a waste of energy. The important thing is what we can learn from it: Sin is a fact and must be resisted continually and the temptation to gain secret knowledge to become our own gods always exists. And temptation will always look appealing and healthy, not ugly.

The pursuit of hidden knowledge is referred to as Gnosticism, and the temptation to Gnosticism has always been there. Many ancient religions have relied heavily on secret rituals conducted in caves or other forbidden places. Who doesn’t want to feel special? Who doesn’t want to have special powers? But the more we delve into arcane practices, the further we move away from God because we are trying to become our own god.

Decades ago, C.S. Lewis wrote the books known as his Space Trilogy-Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. The continuing theme throughout these books is a series of villains who want to twist secret knowledge to gain power over earth and other planets. The books defy simple descriptions but are well worth reading. (In Perelandra, the equivalents of Adam and Eve face temptation but successfully overcome it with the help of the protagonist.) One of the key villains is a scholar who has started by plunging into every kind of occultic practice, only to become demon-possessed. As this man is dying, he alternates between demonic utterances and pleas for deliverance. In Lewis’s autobiography, he mentions caring for a fellow scholar who died in just that fashion.

When Joshua was an old man, he threw down a challenge to the Israelites. “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

Each of us faces the same choices present in Eden on a daily basis. Will we serve the Lord or will we pursue arcane knowledge in hopes of becoming our own gods? Joshua’s challenge echoes down the centuries: Choose this day whom you will serve….but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

  PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to seek Your knowledge and to seek Your Face, not occult knowledge. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 2:18-24 “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

By this point, you are probably saying, “Oh come one! You really expect us to believe this? Why did an Almighty Creator have to steal a rib from poor unsuspecting Adam to create a woman?” I agree with you; I am certain the same God who created Adam could also create a woman without taking any tissue from Adam. And did such an event really occur? I don’t know. Do the details of Eve’s creation really matter? No, not really. What is important is that God acted as a Divine Match Maker and brought Adam and Eve together for what would turn out to be a tumultuous marriage.

I have been married twice. I believed I loved my first husband and I felt sorry for him and thought I could help him. Unfortunately, I subscribed to the erroneous belief that sufficient love could make up for all previous deficiencies. (The Beatles were singing, “Love is all you really need.” They were wrong.) I thought I could help my husband heal when in fact he needed God to do the healing. Both of us were incredibly naive, and each of us had constructed a perfect spouse in our own minds. When reality failed to meet our expectations, the marriage was doomed. My biggest mistake was that I failed to seek God’s will for the situation. The collapse of the marriage plunged me into a deep depression that nearly led me to commit suicide. Blessedly, God provided people who were able to help enough that I refrained from killing myself.

After that experience, I decided that it was going to be me and Jesus for the rest of my life and that I would never remarry. I knew I had a calling on my life to be a medical missionary, and I figured I would complete my training and God would lead me on from there. So when I began praying with a friend from church for God to heal his marriage, I was totally unprepared when this friend advised me that God was going to send me a husband. My initial reaction was, “No thanks!”

Despite my protestations, my friend kept reiterating his statement that God was sending me a husband. One Sunday morning, I dropped in to visit a small church being pastored by a friend. This congregation had just lost their pianist when her husband was transferred and they had been begging God to send them a pianist. With ten years of piano lessons and the ability to play by ear, I filled the bill and suddenly became their pianist. The pastor hot-footed it home and called Bob, my husband-to-be, who was on duty at a local fire station. “Oh Bob! You’ve GOT to meet this lady doctor who came to church this morning!” Bob was totally unenthused; several blind dates had proven disappointing and he was not interested. When the two of us glimpsed each other for the first time at the midweek service, neither of us was impressed; however, the next Sunday, the pastor encouraged me to give Bob a ride back to the fire station where he was living and working. That ride took place in late October, and we were married six months later. But this time, the situation was bathed in prayer. Bob was a dedicated Christian who had his own set of bad marital experiences. During that six months, God worked amazing miracles of emotional healing and so united us that it was as if we had always been together. Next week, we will celebrate 42 years of marriage.

What have we learned during four decades of marriage? 1. Allow God to be your matchmaker. Forcing situations can result in disaster. 2. Pray throughout your courtship and follow God’s timeline and not yours. 3. Pray over all decisions, particularly those involving money. 4. Keep short accounts; forgive each other quickly and don’t hold grudges. 5. Share the challenges of your lives and pray for each other. 6. Pray prayers of protection over each other, particularly protection for physical, emotional, and spiritual protection. 7. Worship God together. 8. Take time to enjoy each other.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help all those who are married or considering marriage to seek Your Will first and to base their marriages on You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 2: 8 – 9, 15-17 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

The Garden of Eden was full of trees bearing all kinds of delicious fruit. And in the center of the Garden, there were two special trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Notice something: God never forbade Adam from eating the fruit of the tree of life. God specifically told Adam that he could eat the fruit from any tree, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Had Adam followed instructions, he might still be hanging around. But Adam didn’t eat the fruit from the tree of life; instead, he was sidling around the garden, tasting all the other fruit. Although men have traditionally blamed Eve for eating the fruit after the serpent tempted her, it’s quite likely that Adam was already eyeing that tree and wondering what would happen if he ate the fruit. People are strange; tell someone that something is forbidden and that is the very thing they will focus on.

These days, the term “bad-ass” has become a favorite term to describe anything of which the speaker approves. There are two things wrong with that term: first, why describe something you admire by calling it “bad” and second, why is it necessary to use the term “ass”? This term constitutes a mild form of swearing; is it necessary? Those who use this term remind me of little boys telling “fart” jokes-oh the thrill of being mildly risqué, circumventing polite language. It was likely that kind of thinking that led to Adam seriously considering trying the forbidden fruit just to see how it would taste. Adam just wanted to walk on the wild side for a bit.

At this point, you might be reacting, “Wait a minute! How do you know that the Garden of Eden-or Adam and Eve-ever existed? Isn’t this story simply an allegory? Personally, I believe the Bible story of Adam and Eve; however, no matter what you choose to believe, sin exists and people are still making wrong choices by pursuing forbidden fruit.   

I came of age just as birth control pills for women and legalized abortion became available. My medical school taught us that abortion was safer than childbirth. Those two events led to a vast increase in sexual promiscuity among women, allowing them to seize forbidden fruit. Please do not misunderstand; birth control drugs have helped millions of women around the globe plan their pregnancies so that they can safely care for their children. Abortion, on the other hand, is murder because life begins at the moment of conception. The shedding of innocent blood brings curses on a land, and those of us who have watched moral degradation in America since 1973 can testify to the truth of that statement. Women who have aborted pregnancies can find themselves dealing with a host of emotional problems over their choices, particularly if they later seek to get pregnant and are unable to do so.

Sexual promiscuity destroys marriages and relationships, shredding trust. There are other bad choices that are equally deleterious. For years, gambling was prohibited in most of the United States. When gambling became available in my part of the Middle West, one farm couple rushed off to the gambling boat, where they lost so much money they lost their farm. The next night, they returned to gamble further in hopes of getting their farm back. In Louisiana one baby sitter stopped by a video poker parlor, locking the two-year-old boy she was minding in the car on a hot day. When the woman returned to the car four hours later, the little boy was nearly dead from the heat and eventually died in the hospital. Another Louisiana woman murdered her parents to cover her gambling debts. Here in Ghana we have watched in horror as Chinese businessmen have established casinos in major cities and have even sent video poker machines to small villages. In some cases, children have skipped school to play these machines.

Proverbs 4:14, 18-19, 23 tells us, “Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil…The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble…Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

No matter what you think about the story of the Garden of Eden, there are two inescapable facts: sin has entered the world and all of us can choose to sin or to refrain from sin. Choose wisely!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to choose Your ways and not Satan’s. Help us to hide Your Word in our hearts so that we will not sin against You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 2:1-3 “The Seventh Day (Exodus 16:22-35; Hebrews 4:1-11) Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.”

“Ridiculous!” you might say. “You mean to tell me that the all-powerful Creator of the Universe needed to rest after creation? Really?” Probably not. But throughout the Bible, God continues to emphasize the need for Sabbath rest for His people. Exodus 20:8-11 says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”

God has ordained times and seasons for work and for rest. No matter how hard we work, there are times when we need to relax and recharge. Forcing ourselves to work continuously will lead to all kinds of stress-related illnesses including heart attacks, hypertension, diabetes, strokes, and even cancer. Those of us prone to depression may find ourselves feeling lower than a ditch digger’s boots. There are four warning signs for people who suffer from depression: HALT- Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. When we refuse to rest, our relationships with our families and friends will suffer and we will wind up being bitter, isolated, sick, and burned out.

Burnout is a real possibility for anyone in a demanding profession and it can sneak up on you. Personally, I have burned out at least twice and have had to guard against it ever since. On the average, if you burn out, it will take nine years before you can return to the work you were doing previously. Some people who have burned out have had to redirect their lives entirely because they couldn’t resume their previous occupations. Burnout takes a massive toll on individuals and their families.

All obsessive behaviors are on a continuum and express themselves differently in different individuals; however, they have one thing in common: people get a serotonin boost from the activity. Some addictive behaviors are obviously destructive such as alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction, and shopping excessively. But workaholism can be just as destructive, although it is more socially acceptable. Many workaholic doctors have lost their families because they have valued work above all else. One surgeon had to stop loading the family car to leave on vacation when the hospital called, demanding he complete all his records before leaving. The family stood as their husband and father took off for the hospital to satisfy the hospital administration; blessedly, the family was able to forgive him.

As a doctor, I have always had to guard against overworking, and sometimes it’s been really tough. For years I was the only doctor in mission hospitals in remote areas with poor transportation. If I left my station, critically ill patients might face long ambulance trips over wretched roads. Not only was transportation difficult, but the patients risked dying enroute to the next facility. But if I didn’t leave, I couldn’t get any rest and I was likely to get sick. One year I had typhoid four times because of overwork. (My husband is definitely a candidate for sainthood!) I had to realize that if I dropped dead, the work would still be there, and somebody would have to do it somehow.

There are many front-line workers who can’t take off Sundays or holidays because of their work schedules, and you might be one of these people. But take regular time off somehow! A wise counselor friend repeatedly assures me that “Self-care is a moral imperative!” On airplanes, passengers are advised to put on their oxygen masks first before helping those around them because if they run out of oxygen, they will be of no use to anybody.

If we buy a new gadget, we will gladly study the owner’s manual. Do the same thing for your body. God has ordained regular periods of rest because He knows we need them. You can’t have peace if you are exhausted. You owe it to your family, your friends, and to yourself to rest regularly. You will be a far effective worker by doing so.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to rest regularly, knowing that You will give us peace and restore our spirits as we do so. Help us to avoid burnout. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 1:20-31 The Fifth Day

“And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

The Sixth Day

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food. And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”

If you believe these verses from Genesis, there was a time when humans and animals were all vegetarians. There were no wars and animals lived together peaceably without preying on one another. Sin had not yet entered the world. Presumably, people and animals could communicate with one another. Then sin entered the world, wars began, and people and animals began preying on one another.

We read these verses and think this is a beautiful dream, but did it ever really happen? Truly, we will never know; nor do we need to use these verses to accuse carnivores of sin. (Yes, you can still eat that hamburger!) What is important is that this is a glimpse of heaven.

Romans 8:20-22 tells us, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.”  Putting it bluntly, animals, birds, and sea creatures have not messed up; it is humans who have sinned. I am an unabashed animal lover, and I firmly believe animals will join us in heaven where the peaceable kingdom will truly exist. I am looking forward to seeing all the animals I have loved. In the meantime, we need to try to live in harmony with one another and with nature as much as possible.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to respect all living creatures around us and to live in peace as much as possible. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 1:9-19 “And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

The Fourth Day

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years. And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.

God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well. God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.”

We read these verses and think, “There’s no way things could be that simple!” and we are right. But consider the people who were writing these verses. In those days, there were no meteorologists or astronomers, not mention nuclear physicists or astrophysicists. The longer scientists study creation, the more complicated these events are proving to be. Most of us are totally unsuited to understand the molecular events that resulted in seed-bearing plants, soil, trees, sun, moon, stars, etc. But do we have to understand these things to appreciate them? Does more knowledge give us more peace?

Most people admire flowers without the slightest idea as to how they are cultivated. The same thing is true for heavenly bodies, although many astronomers have found faith in God through their studies.

Personally, as a surgeon, the longer I work with human bodies, the more amazed I am at the beauty and complexity of human anatomy. Daily, there are new discoveries about human biochemistry. But does all this knowledge bring peace?

There are three ways we can view knowledge: we can worry, we can be indifferent, or we can praise God for the wonders of His creation and accept the idea that there will always be more to learn about it.  The important thing is now how much knowledge we have but will we accept God as the Creator and rest in His peace? If we can trust God for the things we have seen, we can also trust Him for the things we have not yet seen.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, sometimes we feel as if we are drowning in details. Help us to trust that You will bring us the information we need and give us Your peace. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

With the wind-up of the study of Proverbs, we come to the end of the books of the Bible. Believe it or not, if you have been following the Burunche Bible Studies from the beginning, you have studied the entire Bible. Where do we go next?

As I am writing this, Ukraine and Israel are still in chaos. Illegal immigrants are still streaming across American borders, creating huge problems for those involved in health and relief efforts. Economies throughout the world are fluctuating. At home, families are struggling. One friend has written that a relative has overdosed on drugs, has gone into coma, and has finally died. Another family has just lost a father due to liver failure from hepatitis and liver cancer. How do we find peace in the midst of this turmoil?

For the next several weeks we will be looking at the Bible to see what it says about peace. We hope you will find the scriptures not only helpful, but also healing. In the meantime, consider Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (King James Version.)

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we all need peace and we need to know that You are the Source of Peace. Help us to trust You, even when we cannot see our own way. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Virtues of a Noble Woman

“Who can find a wife of noble character? She is far more precious than rubies. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he lacks nothing of value. She brings him good and not harm all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She rises while it is still night to provide food for her household and portions for her maidservants.

She appraises a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and shows that her arms are strong. She sees that her gain is good, and her lamp is not extinguished at night. She stretches out her hands to the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for they are all clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known at the city gate, where he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the days to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband praises her as well: “Many daughters have done noble things, but you surpass them all!” Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her at the gates.”

(Verses 10-31 are an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.)

“ Who can find a wife of noble character? She is far more precious than rubies. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he lacks nothing of value. She brings him good and not harm all the days of her life.”  Thus starts one of the most intimidating passages in all of Proverbs. Why do I call these verses intimidating? For centuries, women have had these verses quoted to them, held over their heads, and sometimes used as weapons. The lady described in these verses is Wonder Woman personified. The standard this lady sets is a daunting one. Look at her qualities:

1. Noble character-many of us might have moments of nobility on a good day with the wind in the right direction, but consistent nobility is tough.
2. “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he lacks nothing of value. She brings him good and not harm all the days of her life.” Anybody can behave well for a few days or weeks or months, but when a couple have been married for decades, it is easy to lapse into small acts of viciousness.
3. “She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She rises while it is still night to provide food for her household and portions for her maidservants.” Consistent diligence must be sustained and demands an enormous amount of self-discipline. There’s nothing simple about working with eager hands, and maintaining a large household requires a lot of administrative ability  
4. “She appraises a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard.” Not only can this lady run a household efficiently, but she is also a savvy businesswoman investing her money wisely.
5. “She girds herself with strength and shows that her arms are strong.” This lady is making sure she is in good physical shape. The older we get, the more we need regular exercise to keep ourselves mentally sharp and physically able.  
6.  “She sees that her gain is good, and her lamp is not extinguished at night.” This lady is on point 24/7; she makes certain that everything is taken care of before retiring for the night.
7.  “She stretches out her hands to the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.” Not only can this lady run a household well, but she also is a skilled weaver who uses her spare time to create items she can sell. In an earlier age, my great-grandmother would stop her housework about 2 in the afternoon, change into slightly better clothing, and then do needlework for an hour or two before starting to cook supper. When Great Grandma died, she left beautiful things behind. It’s little wonder that two of her great grandchildren have become surgeons!
8. “She opens her arms to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.”  Having provided for her household, this lady is also helping care for her neighbors, setting a wonderful example for her children.
9. ‘When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for they are all clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed; her clothing is fine linen and purple.” Not only does this lady produce material for her household, but that material is high-quality. Scarlet and purple dyes are very expensive and only upper class and royalty can afford them.  
10. ‘Her husband is known at the city gate, where he sits among the elders of the land.’” Elders and leaders sit in the city gate, and only those of good reputation are included in this number. This lady’s conduct is so exemplary that she enhances her husband’s standing in the community.
11. “She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchants.”  This lady is a businesswoman par excellence with a reputation for excellent products.  
12. “Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the days to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” You begin to wonder if this lady is the Energizer Bunny. Does she ever really rest? Yes, this lady probably does rest at intervals; however, she watches what she says and continues to be diligent even when it’s difficult.  
13. “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband praises her as well: “Many daughters have done noble things, but you surpass them all!” No matter how many outsiders honor this lady, the most important accolades come from her husband and her children. Our families are generally our toughest critics because they know us best.
14. “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her at the gates.” No matter how many different beauty or exercise regimes you follow, aging happens. Your body parts begin to sag. The charm you had in your twenties fades, never to return. But character continues to shine brighter as the years go on. Many of us may have started as self-centered youngsters, only to grow and become far better people as we age. My mother had an aunt who lived to be 102 and who was one of the sweetest people imaginable. My constant prayer is “Dear Lord, help me to be sweeter the older I get.”

In the beginning, I said that these verses can be intimidating; however, they can also be encouraging. We must remember that God is the One who knows our struggles and our trials; only God knows how hard we have tried to survive. And God is a good Father who loves to encourage His children. Let us remember that God is cheering us on, even when friends and family are not.

But what about those women who are childless? Everybody needs a mother, and many times mothering is in short supply. You don’t have to have given birth to be a mother to those around you. Take heart! In the end, those whom you have comforted or encouraged will still rise up and call you blessed!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all who read these words to be encouraged and not intimidated. Thank You for sending people to mother us when we need it. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Words of King Lemuel

“The words of King Lemuel—a pronouncement that his mother taught him: What shall I say, O my son? What, O son of my womb? What, O son of my vows?

Do not spend your strength on women or your vigor on those who ruin kings.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink, lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice. Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.”

“The words of King Lemuel—a pronouncement that his mother taught him: What shall I say, O my son? What, O son of my womb? What, O son of my vows?” Proverbs 31 is a strange chapter. The first part of the chapter is devoted to advice a king received from his mother, and we can’t even be certain who “King Lemuel” was. The name “Lemuel” means “dedicated to God.” Many scholars feel that the king represented here was either Solomon or Hezekiah; however, since some versions read “King Lemuel of Massa,” Lemuel might have actually been an Assyrian king. At any rate, Lemuel’s mother was a smart cookie and gave excellent advice, making vows to God concerning the rearing of her son.  

“Do not spend your strength on women or your vigor on those who ruin kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink, lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice. Royal banquets could turn into forced drinking bouts during which guests might have to vomit several times, stumbling back to absorb even more alcohol. The Esther story mentions the fact that during the banquet given by King Ahasuerus, the drinking was NOT compulsory, making this king unusually kind and sensitive.

While the king might get drunk at his own banquet, it is also quite likely that a wise king would refrain, standing back to watch to see how his nobles would comport themselves when drunk. There is an old saying “In vino veritas,” meaning that when people are drunk, they are likely to show their true colors and to say what they really think without the inhibitions of sobriety. Lemuel’s mother makes the point that drunken rulers are likely to misconduct themselves, persecuting the oppressed in the process.   

“Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.” Traditionally, those in terminal conditions might be given wine to ease their suffering and to allow them peaceful deaths. Although Lemuel’s mother is advising alcohol for poor people, drinking will only make their situations worse and when they wake up from a drunken stupor, they will still be poor and may be in worse shape than they were previously.

“Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.”  Here Lemuel’s mother is giving excellent advice, encouraging the king to defend the poor and needy, something that God repeatedly encourages throughout the Bible but particularly throughout the Old Testament.

APPLICATION: The Book of Proverbs contains enormous amounts of wisdom, and these few verses are a prime example. No matter what title a ruler might hold, the challenges of national leadership remain the same. Throughout the world, we can see leaders who are wise and others who should never have been elevated to such positions in the first place.

God is the One who promotes people into positions of leadership, and only God can give the necessary wisdom so that leaders will rule wisely. When rulers think only of themselves, their families and friends, or their political party, the governments they head will rapidly become corrupt. When you study the history of the kings of Judah and Israel, you realize that God gave many of these men the chance to form dynasties, only for them to blow it because they insisted on worshiping idols rather than the One True Living God.

While most of us will never head a country, we may find ourselves in positions of authority. On that day, how will we comport ourselves? Will we seek God’s Will and try to fulfill God’s vision for our organization, or will we serve only ourselves? May all of us trust God and seek His Will for our lives, so that we will fulfill His plans and not ours!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all those in authority at any level to look to You for guidance and do Your Will and not their own. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.