2007-10-19
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We will continue examining the ideal woman [or man] that is found in PR 31: 10-31 as a way of looking at the issue of mammon, that is in common usage, "that in which much trust is placed." Remember that Christ, in His Sermon on the Mount in MT 6: 33 reminds us to keep our attention on the matters of the Kingdom, rather than our material needs. To do that takes enormous will to trust God, something most commonly seen in mature believers. Christ understands that our natural inclination is to worry about getting our needs met and to (in some cases) make the amassing of material wealth our greatest priority. That is what the sinful nature of mankind can lead us to, if we allow that. You'll remember that last week, I mentioned that each of the 22 verses in PR 31: 10-21 can be represented by a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The first one, aleph, is (10), "How hard it is to find a capable wife [husband]! She [he] is worth far more than jewels!" My intent here is not to change this from a description about wife, but to honor principles regarding mammon that actually apply to both partners in a marriage or even to single people in their attitude about it. Today, I begin by looking at beit, which is (11), "Her husband [his wife] puts his [her] confidence in her [him], and he [she] will never be poor." I suspect the Hebrew word for "poor" used here is "aniy" [pronounced aw-nee, with the accent on the last syllable], which means depressed, afflicted, humble, lowly, needy or poor. The bottom line is that there is no need to fight the battle of the sexes. In today's world, we need to be in relationship with God, open to learning more about who He is and what He does, and sensitive to His will [which is more important than our own, regardless of our gender].
Some of the materially richest people I know are really not living in giant mansions or surrounding themselves with luxuries. Instead, they live humble lives centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have some people like that in our very own congregation, and they are an example that I wish to emulate. Notice I said "wish to." That is because I know in my heart they are further in their path to spiritual maturity of total trust in God than I am. I believe that if these people who I wish to emulate were ever to find their bank accounts empty that they would still have the kind of confidence in God and each other to never be poor in the ways that matter. PS 33: 19 evokes the kind of confidence I am discussing. "How wonderful are the good things You keep for those who honor You! Everyone knows how good You are, how securely You protect those who trust in You." Imagine the person suddenly widowed whose newly-departed spouse always managed the money and budgeting for the marriage. This is a prime time for that person to be able to take over, and if he can't for some reason, what happens? That's a time when the greed of others can through the newly widowed person's finances into chaos or clean them out altogether. It's only the sinful nature of mankind that drives this kind of greedy behavior [GN 3: 1-6]. This kind of greed even sometimes happens within families. Is it any wonder that Christ made statements like MT 7: 21, "Not everyone who calls Me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what My Father in heaven wants them to do"? And what about His shocking statement, in MT 10: 35-36, "I came to set sons against their fathers, daughter against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law; a man's worst enemies will be the members of his own family." We must remember that true disciples of Jesus Christ are sometimes called upon to leave their livelihoods and families just at the original disciples did [MT 4: 21].
In the course of relationships which involve the decisions that must be made about mammon, we are called upon to remember Christ's words in MT 6: 24, "No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the others; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." If we are in relationship with Him and that relationship is truly shared with our spouses, then we too can have the kind of confidence that Solomon writes about in PR 31: 11. If the subject of mammon deeply troubles us, then we can turn to our Lord, Who loves us more than we can measure, and ask Him for help with it. I surely recommend doing this, because in reality, He is our only effective Source of help. Remember that it is He Who gives us an open line to Himself free for the asking and in service 24/7. That open line is prayer. My own life is living proof of His patience and compassion when we turn to Him in prayer. PS 37: 23-24, "The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." Bear this in mind: There is no detail of our lives in which the Lord is uninterested. Let Him decide what is important and what is not. Take every concern to Him and place it on Christ's ample shoulders. Believe me, if my own experience is any teacher, He cares!
PRAYER: Long ago when You inspired Solomon to write about the capable wife, you were not only speaking in personal terms, but You were also speaking to Your chosen people, Israel. Now, many Gentiles have been grafted in to the cultured olive tree [RO 11: 16-24], which means this message is for all the Body of Christ and any potential believers who will be brought to faith in Him during their life times. Believers who are capable are those in whom You and others can have confidence. When we obey You faithfully and incorporate Your ethical values in our lives, we have no reason to believe that we will go without our needs met. You have promised us, in PS 37: 11, "But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace." You have caused Paul to write, in PHIL 4: 19, "And with all His abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs." What will it take for us to believe these promises, Dearest Abba? We come before You with heads bowed in reverence to seek Your help. You have told us that we are indeed poor in spirit without You. We must take another promise You give us seriously. MT 5: 3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!" We cannot be the capable people You want us to be without Your interaction in our lives. Gaining the Kingdom is what really matters, not the accumulation of material wealth which becomes an idol in our lives. We understand our need to be industrious in our lives and to work. That was made clear when You judged mankind in GN 3: 17b and told us, "...You will have to work hard all your life to make the ground produce enough food for you." However, when we are obedient to You and live according to Your will, we can not only have confidence in You but also in all others who do the same. What great compassion, patience, love, and devotion You have for Your human creation! How very blessed we are! We thank and praise You, Dearest Abba, for all the ways that You are there for us and share Your wisdom with us. In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, we will look at gimmel, the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which is represented in PR 31: 12. This issue of mammon is worth our time, even through I may cover more than one letter a week. We must come out of our initially selfish shells to breathe the blessings in of overcoming our basest natural instincts. GA 5: 17 must be kept in mind in conjunction with MT 6: 24 above. "For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do." If we have any compassion, we can appreciate what Paul was trying to say when he spoke of the conflict between the Spirit and the flesh in RO 7: 15, 17, "I do not understand what I do; for I do not do what I would like to do, but instead, I do what I hate...So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me." However, Paul correctly comes to the only conclusion that makes any sense out of this compulsion in RO 7: 24b-25a, "Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? Thanks be to God, Who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ!" I urge everyone reading this devotion to join me in turning to our Lord, because He alone can pull us up from the pit of greed into the fresh breathable air of trust in Him. Then, we too can be capable, confident in the Lord, and people in whom others can have confidence. Our lives can be witnesses by example of the blessings of faith, witnesses that will speak loudly to others of their need to be sheep in Christ's pasture.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn