Proverbs 31:27

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

I’ve known very few women in my life who are idle. I’m talking about those who are married with a family to care for. Oh, I’ve met the occasional one who doesn’t seem to do anything but sit in front of the TV with absolute chaos reigning around them, but they’ve been few and far between – perhaps I just don’t mix in the same circles.

Women who have active lives do not ‘eat the bread of idleness’, but rather seem to cram as much as they can into their lives to keep the household running smoothly, to help all family members achieve whatever they’ve set out to do, and then still do what they need to do, whether it’s working in a job of some kind, fulfilling a voluntary role, or something else. Almost every woman I know fits into this mould. Why do we do this? Try to get as much done as possible and leave very little time to ourselves? And what about time for God?

Some might argue that it’s our current social climate but I argue that it is inbuilt, that it is in a woman’s nature – this verse seems to indicate that women have been like this for a long time! And I believe it is a good thing – women watching over their household and keeping busy. But let’s not forget how important it is that we set aside time for our Lord, time to pray to Him, time to talk to Him, and more importantly, time to listen. KMT

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