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A Willing Heart
By Royale Rose
Monday, July 25, 2016
She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands. Proverbs 31:13 NKJV
When I think of doing chores I have a tendency to roll my eyes and give a slight sigh. After working all day who in their right mind wants to come home to chores and what does it matter if I do them anyway? I know things need to get done in the home but they are often awful, dreadful tasks like dishes, laundry, dusting, and mopping. You get my drift.
Well, as I have these dreadful thoughts, I remember the story of the Proverbs 31 women. The prime example of a put-together Jesus girl! Surely God put this story in the Bible as our exampleof how it can be done.
So the question I ask is,
How does the Proverbs 31 woman do it all and not dread a single moment of the work?
The answer to my question I do believe is in verse 13.
She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands.
She willingly does her works.
While digging deep into this verse I believe we find the value, meaning and wonder of a woman who works with her hands. This woman is never lazy and she is diligent in all of her work.
I read many versions of this verse to see the different adjectives used. Willing was used the most, but the words eager and busily were also used.
Take a minute to focus on her willingness.
She willingly works. This suggests that she works with pure delight. She enjoys her work.
Hard to believe, I know. We all know that work itself may not be joyous. The life of a wife and mother can be full of what seem to be less than joyous tasks. This scripture, my friends, is teaching us how to see these tasks as joyous, for the glory of our God. Maybe this is where the term “labor of love” came from.
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Colossians 3:23 NLT
This is a simple picture of how the Proverbs 31 woman is working.
She gets up each morning choosing the attitude of her heart toward her work. The attitude is joy, and this makes her willing to do the task that stands before her. She is motivated by her joy. Joy is the attitude that she chooses to have, but her motivation to choose joy is found in her love: her love for God and her family. Her life is not lived for herself. It is lived with the greatest joy of serving God and her family. Let’s not forget, this is all done with a willing heart.
Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. 2 Chronicles 15:7 KJV
Let’s not allow our daily routines to become mundane and dreadful. Let’s find a way to make the extra effort to find joy in the task before us and willingly do them. We must make a decision and make the effort daily to possess God in our spirit and allow His grace to work through us.
Your heart attitude determines how much you enjoy your work as well as what the atmosphere of your home life will be. When you choose to work with a willing, happy heart, you become a beautiful source of joy to all, a fountain of God given
Dear Father, we pray for Your forgiveness for the times we have looked at our days as a dreadful task. We pray to be consumed by Your Holy Spirit, so that we find pure joy in all our days on this earth as we will one day experience in Heaven. We want to be the fountain of joyful energy with a joyous heart for the center of our home. We confess to be faithful and diligent workers who willingly, enthusiastically, and continually make our house a home. May our hands be strong for the work done to Your glory, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.
© 2013 by Royale Rose. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Monday, 25 July 2016.
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