Proverbs 31:16

She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

I’m currently reading a book by Larry Burkett called Personal Finances for background research on a budgetting session I’ll be presenting on at my church next month. In one section he writes about striving for excellence and quotes 1 Peter 4:11, reminding the reader how important it is that we use our abilities for God’s glory. He then goes on to say that “it is important that wives and mothers excel at what they do. Usually the mother becomes the teacher of habits in the home, and her attitudes are generally reflected by her children. If she excels at what she does and keeps the home well-organized, she can be a great asset to home financial planning.” I wrote after that paragraph ‘Proverbs31 Woman’ because that is exactly what he was describing (he missed it!).

Verse 16 of Proverbs 31 shows us that this woman spends her money wisely and makes it work for her. She uses her earnings to provide for the family. Not only that but what she chooses to do with the money is something that would keep producing over time, i.e. the vineyard that would keep producing grapes for wine, that she can sell, and then plant more vines, or buy more land, or do something else with those funds. Above I mentioned Larry Burkett and how he talks of the wife and mother excelling at what she does and being an asset to the home financial planning and in Proverbs 31:16 we see the same thing.

If I’d not been doing this study I probably wouldn’t have seen this passage in Larry’s book in the same way. But I feel that as you’re learning one thing, God backs it up with other things, to reinforce the lesson. Have you found that to be so? It now means that as I present on budgetting next month at my church, I’ll be able to share what I’ve been learning from Proverbs 31 as well as from Larry Burkett’s book and other things I’ve been reading also.

Prayer: Father, help me to recognise when you are sending lessons that are from you. Help me to see the connections where you are involved. Thank you that you care enough to keep sending messages and messengers through various avenues until my ears, eyes and mind recognise they are from you.