Proverbs 31:16
|
She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
|
The virtuous woman never sits on her laurels; she hardly ever sits! She presses forward in a new direction here. Domestic duties do not take all her abilities and time, so she analyzes business ventures, buys real estate, and invests her allowance in earning assets.
Wives, King Lemuel's mother gave him these words (31:1). These are not a man's words, who does not know the difficulties of a wife and mother. These are the words of a mother, who knows creative diligence is the supreme trait of a perfect wife. Looking good, cooking, and cleaning is not quite enough! This woman is a wise Trojan!
She considereth a field. She is intelligent and knowledgeable enough to see the potential of vacant land for commercial real estate development. She does not miss a good opportunity. She matches business ideas to the land, measures the capital investment, calculates the potential yield, checks market prices for wine, determines a profitable return on investment, covers cash flow needs, and makes her decision.
She buyeth it. Having considered the field's potential and the right price for a profitable return, she spends her precious funds to purchase the field. She is decisive and bold; she is farsighted and courageous; she is creative and entrepreneurial. She is confident in her ability, her analysis, and the potential profits to reward her family in time to come.
She uses the fruit of her hands to make the capital investment. Due to her wise care of the home and other financial matters, her husband has given her a portion of the family income (31:11-12,23,31). See the comments on 31:31. Rather than wasting hours looking for deals on a Caribbean cruise, she looks to invest her money for her family's future.
She planteth a vineyard. She avoids social projects of women who have never worked a day in their lives. She wants to work - to be productive. She not only buys the field; she puts in the work to finish the project (12:27). She buys seedlings, plants them, and waits. She sees the future, as profitable vineyards are not created overnight. What a lady!
Christianity does not teach women to be ignorant homebodies. The virtuous woman worked outside the home. She first provided for her husband and children (31:10-12,27-28). She knew "keepers at home" (Tit 2:5) condemned any idleness and sinful habits of foolish women; it did not mean staying home all day (I Tim 5:13-14). She put the LORD first, her husband second, family third, and businesses fourth. Her husband and children will praise her, not for being home all day, but for helping build the family estate.
www.letgodbetrue.com
