Day 18 – Prov. 31:27
"She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness."
- (New King James Version)
Today's virtue: vigilance. Defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as, "alert watchfulness," vigilance is one of those things I like to consider as a "higher" virtue. I am in no way implying that some virtues are greater than others, but I do believe that some take longer to require.
I'm struggling, admittedly, to look at this verse from a new perspective. There's just such a unity in this entire passage so that I find myself repeating what was said in the past. But reinforcement is always for a reason, and perhaps someone today needed to hear this one more time.
Recall on Day 12 when we discussed preparedness. Our virtuous woman took the effort to prepare her house against the snowstorms of life, covering ALL her household in scarlet, which I suggested to represent the blood of our Savior. We also discussed, on numerous occasions, about how life is an active process - that you have to go out and get what you need. It's encourage again in the latter portion of this verse: she "does not eat the bread of idleness."
But the activity described here is interesting because it is not something others would take notice of. To be vigilant, or watchful, is often overlooked. At least when she was preparing, we could see our woman busily working away, and so she'll be praised undoubtedly for it. I take vigilance here, however, to represent those things we do not to be praised by others, and not even to serve as a testimony for others. It's those things that we do because if we don't we'll suffer in the end. And no one's going to appeal to you before to do it and no one's going applaud you after for doing it.
It's sounds rather laborious, doesn't it? Why would anyone in their right mind add to their workload? Sometimes, though, we need to look at the benefits in the future and make the little sacrifice now. And this is why I said it can be seen as "higher" virtue, because only after having learned to discipline yourself in the other ways mentioned can you foresee future failures and prevent them. You will get there though, I assure you.
showcase your beauty.
God bless,
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