Disclaimer
This is the first of a series of posts deep-diving into what we all call “The Proverbs 31 Woman”. In this series, I will follow a certain pattern.
- Introduce the verse(s) being discussed in this post. These verses will always be from the King James Version.
- Give definitions for key words in the verse. These definitions will come from the Strong’s Dictionary which I highly recommend for an invaluable Bible study tool. (I am considering making a separate post to explain more in depth about the Strong’s Dictionary and how it works.)
- Dive into discussing the verse and the takeaways and applications that I found during my personal study.
I’m excited for this series and pray it’s a blessing to you! Now, let’s begin…
Proverbs 31:10
“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.”
Find– to come forth to, appear or exist, to attain, find or acquire, to occur, meet, or be present
This one is pretty self-explanatory. To find something, you have to search for it and then you “attain” it or “acquire” it.
Virtuous– probably a force (whether of men, means or other resources), an army, wealth, virtue, valor or strength
I love this definition. The thought that comes to my mind is that a virtuous woman is “a force to be reckoned with”. Not in a prideful way, all the glory be to God because we are nothing in and of ourselves, but when we as women submit ourselves to the Lord and to His will for our lives, we become a force for His kingdom. A force can accomplish a lot and we can accomplish a lot if we find our strength in God.
Price– merchandise or value
Again, this one is self-explanatory. Her price is her value.
Far above– remote (literally or figuratively, whether in place or time), specifically precious
When I read this definition, I imagined the satellites that are in outer space because they are so “far above” us that we can’t even see them and I believe that the price or “value” of a virtuous woman is so “far above” what we can even see or fully understand.
Rubies– probably a pearl
Whether the original language meant our modern-day rubies or pearls honestly does not matter because their value is actually almost the same. The point is that her value is so much more than any precious jewel. As I began to study, I found a website that compared the monetary value of a variety of precious jewels and the website had a note about how rare these jewels were. In the moment, God spoke to my heart an obvious but maybe overlooked fact – the reason they are so valuable is because they are so rare and so hard to find. The same is true about a virtuous woman. She is so valuable because she is so rare, so hard to find. Dirt is not very valuable because it is so easy to come by, it doesn’t take much effort to find or attain it. Rubies on the other hand are extremely hard to find and they also require a lot of effort to attain, that is what makes them so costly. Someone had to work really hard to find and extract that ruby and you have to pay the price for that hard work. To me, this sounds exactly like a virtuous woman. It’s not easy, it takes a lot of hard work to attain that and so the value is great.
You Are Not Enough
Everybody wants to be “something” in this world. It’s a natural instinct in our flesh that we desire to be something, but the honest and brutal fact is that we are NOTHING without God. He is everything. I often see signs that say, “You are enough” and I know that the creators of those signs mean well, but the truth is that we are not enough. If we were enough, there would have been no need for Jesus. There would have been no need for His sacrifice. We are not enough, but thankfully, Jesus was willing to come down and be enough for us. He was the only sacrifice that could fully satisfy God and He chose to be that sacrifice for us because we could not be enough on our own. Likewise, many times, we find ourselves saying that someone is “such a good person”, but if we’re honest, there is nothing good about any of us except for Jesus Christ. We are inherently sinful and nothing good can come from us. All good comes from Him and letting Him live through us.
As I read through Proverbs 31:10-31 and all the accomplishments of that “virtuous woman”, in all actuality, it’s not her – it’s Jesus. The good works come from Jesus and all we can do is simply obey and follow His leadership. That’s really all we have to offer – obedience. His price is really the price that’s “far above rubies”.
Don’t Put The Cart Before The Horse
I tried so hard before I got saved. I tried to do all the right things, say all the right words, dress the part, act the part, I really tried to be a “virtuous woman”. Especially after I got married. I wanted so badly to be a Godly woman for my husband, a wife the he could be proud of. But like the saying goes, I was trying to “put the cart before the horse”. In the life of a Christian, Jesus is the horse and the cart represents our “good works”. If you try to do the good works before actually receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your simply going to wear yourself and get nowhere. You need the “horse” first. You need Jesus and His Spirit first and foremost, then the good works – the “cart” – will follow.
So, before we go any further with this series, let me say this crucially important thing – if you do not have the Spirit of God dwelling inside you, if you have not been born again, do not try to go through this study and apply these things to your life. These attributes and works that we will discuss will NOT get you into Heaven and they will NOT satisfy that longing in your heart. You must start at the root, start by calling on Jesus Christ to save you and submitting yourself to Him, and then start growing in knowledge and applying these lessons to your life. That’s the order that things must go in order to be successful. Please, I urge you, do not put the cart before the horse.
If you want to talk to me personally about anything I covered in this blog post, please reach out to me at brannigan@fromonebeggartoanother.com. I would love to talk to you, to encourage you, to point you to Scripture that can help in whatever your current situation. If you are feeling that tug to surrender your heart and life to Jesus, I would love to know so that I can pray for you!
