She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.”
Proverbs 31:13
Imagine going to the market to buy provisions for your family to clothe them with. When you get there, however, there is no selection of garments hanging on racks or folded in bins. There is not even cloth to cut and sew. Instead, you are picking out wool and flax.
Wool and flax are raw materials. They require multiple, labor intensive steps to produce usable products from. Flax is used to make breathable, lightweight, durable clothing and bedding. It requires using a flax break tool that breaks the outer covering, a scutching board and knife that removes the outer covering that sticks to the inner fibers, and a hackle comb that separates the long fibers from the short, fluffy tow. Wool is used to make durable, insulating, flame resistant clothing. It requires tedious cleaning and carding steps. Once these raw materials are prepared, the wool and flax then have to be spun into thread and the thread has to be weaved into cloth.
The Proverbs 31 woman performed all of these mundane, time consuming tasks as a labor of love. She worked with eager hands which meant she was dedicated and perhaps even enthusiastic. Her focus was on the end result and being able to provide what her family needed through the varying seasons.
Reflection:
- How do you view the daily, mundane tasks that you have to perform to provide for your family’s needs? Do you see them as labors of love or do you resent the energy and time they require of you?
- Do you consider that all you do is to be done as to the Lord and He is with you even in the midst of tedious tasks? Do you work with eager hands?
Prayer: Father, how grateful we are that we have the ability to do the tasks required to provide for our family and their needs. Thank you for modern conveniences that we often take for granted that make our lives easier. Help us to have the motivation and the right mindset to succeed in the tasks you have entrusted us with, especially the tedious, mundane duties that we may struggle to achieve. Help us to honor and serve You with eager hands as we perform these labors of love.
