Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father give us what we need, time and intent, to reflect on ourselves, our lives, and who we share it all with. Father, thank you for my wonder-full wife. So much of what you have done in me, to make me more like your Son, has been through her influence. She is far better than any material inheritance I ever could have received here on earth, Father. In the name of your Son Jesus, may I cherish her in a way that pleases you. Amen.
Your Morning Song: "Amazing Grace" by Chris Rice
Your Morning Scripture: Proverbs 19:14
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
...
The material inheritance we can be given by human parents is certainly good. But beyond what our earthly parents can give us, our Heavenly Father can give infinitely more.
It is striking, how God is comparing material inheritance with the inheritance of a prudent, wise wife. Both in the world and in the church today I see that flipped. Material things are valued above and beyond marriages. Foolishness, selfishness, and divorce run rampant in both world and church. Do we husbands of prudent wives value them as we should? Do we bachelors pray for prudent wives? Or do we seek out a wife of a different kind? Do unmarried women understand that God values prudence and wisdom over self-indulgence or self-submission to insecurity? Do we fathers seek to point our sons and daughters to God's Will that He would form them and guide them as they grow?
Just as physical training is of some use but spiritual training of eternal value, so too is God's valuing of who we are far above what we have. Whoever you are, reading this, you can join God in the giving and sustaining of His inheritance.
Husbands, praise your prudent wife and thank God that you have the opportunity to praise her. Rejoice in her and enjoy the peace and rest of being married to such a person. And do not be afraid to praise her "at the city gates."
Wives, be prudent and trust that even if your husband does not recognize your prudence (we can be a bit slow on the take sometimes), your Father in Heaven sees you, and delights in you, and declares you greater than any possible physical inheritance. Entrust yourself to you Heavenly Father's making and shaping, and let your prudence be grounded in an awe-fear of Him.
Fathers and mothers, raise your daughters to love and awe-fear God. Raise your sons to seek and treasure such a woman.
Brothers and sisters, encourage each other to pursue prudence and to pursue those who are prudent as God has designed.
May we be a people who treasure what and who God says to treasure. May we reject the world's standards and preferences and embrace God's design for what is best and who is to be cherished and praised.
Thank you, Father, for my prudent wife. May I be her blessing from you just as she is, to me, from you.
