Proverbs 5: 15-19

Proverbs 5: 15-19
Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well. 
 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares? 
 Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers. 
 May your fountain be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. 
 A loving doe, a graceful deer—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.

Interestingly enough, these scriptures are speaking to the man about being faithful, however I read in it something for wives as well. I can take from these verses several things a wife should (or shouldn't be). In fact, if you read all of Proverbs 5 you can get a very clear picture of what a godly wife SHOULDN'T be. Today I really want to focus on these verses though because they talk specifically about being a wife.

Verse 15 refers to this man's wife as a "cistern" or a container or well of water. The is very symbolic in several ways. One, it refers to the nature of giving. The words "running," "springs," and "streams" all refer to something that continues to flow. As a godly wife we give of ourselves, our love, our support, and life freely and without reserve for our husband and family. Taking my mother as an example, I am convinced that this is an ability that is truly God given for wives. It's one of the ways God enables us to perform our role as wife. Although this is a gift given by God, it can also be a challenge. Giving with a return can be tiring and draining. It is hard not to be bitter at times when I don't see any return from my giving, however it is important to remember we do it more for God than we do our husband. (It makes the burden lighter)

In verse 18 the writer speaks of rejoicing in the "wife of your youth" and verse 19 uses the words "always" and "may you ever," all references to a happy and fulfilling marriage from beginning to end. As a wife I can gleam both encouragement and a reminder from these verses. It is encouraging to know that if I am married to a godly man he will strive to always see and treat me in love. He will never lose his passion for me because he will make it a goal to pursue that passion. However, the reminder I get is that I should remember the things that made my husband fall in love with me in his "youth" and strive to provoke the same feelings in my husband today and always. Yes, it is a blessed burden on the man to stay faithful and passionate about his wife, but it is the wife's role to create an atmosphere that he can do so.

The last verse I noted above talks pretty blatantly about sex. I can not simply ignore the fact. I find a reminder in that too. I am aware that my body may not be the same as it was the day we married, but as a wife I see a purpose in making effort on staying beautiful for my spouse. This is not necessarily doing something more or different than you  already do, however I can see changes in myself since the early days. Early on I was careful wit personal up-keep. Nails, hair, shaving, beauty rituals were all important because I wanted to look beautiful and make my man feel special. As time goes by and comfort sets in, I find those things happen less often. I don't particularly think that is a good thing. I strive to find a balance in accepting who God made me to be and striving for beauty. I think it really all goes back to what I said above, I want to remind him I am the same person he feel in love with both inside and out (now with a deeper love that comes through the years). That deeper love will cover what physically time has changed.

Disclaimer: I do not think that the commentary above is exactly what God is attempting to get across in Proverbs 5. However in my pursuit to be a better wife, I am pulling from the scripture what I feel God wants me to know and remember. Each person's relationship with God and their spouse is different. Also, I feel my husband loves the way I look just as well now as early on, I was focusing on the effort on my part about making myself special for him.

Malachi 3:10

Over the past two months, God has made great efforts to teach my husband and I something, and that is that if you give, he will give. First I must confess, we were not always faithful givers. We wanted to be, we used to be, but when times got hard, we just let that slip away. As things more challenging and even on good months there wasn't enough, we knew we had to make a change. About three months ago the hubby and I decided to give tithe on our dependable (my) income. The first month surprised us. From the time we gave, we kept getting blessed. Our needs were met, many wants were granted... it was amazing. This past month we decided to give on estimated total income. Do you know what happened? We were blessed again. I'm not saying its a magic formula, but it something God truly allows us to test Him on. He said give, we (finally) didn't question Him, and He amazed us! Now that we understand this, I wished we never stopped it in the first place. Perhaps we wouldn't be where we are today if we had. However, I believe in redemption and I know He can bring us back to the place where we were, likely better!

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. - Malachi 3:10

Proverbs 3:27-28

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor,“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you” when you already have it with you." Proverbs 3:27-28

It is helpful to also read Matthew 22:34-40

^"Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

It really all comes down to love. If you love, you wouldn't hold back. If you love, you wouldn't sit by and see someone in need suffer if you can help. Its cruel, unconsiderate, selfish, and truly unloving. Lev. 19:13 even goes to so far to say that when you do you are stealing. Remember, everything around us and everything we have belongs ultimately to God. We should be using it all for His glory and honor.

Prayer: Lord, Forgive me for the times I've held on to something I should have given (and for times I should have given freely and was begrudged). Give me the strength to love when my weak humanity struggles to do otherwise.