Planting a Vineyard: What the Proverbs 31 Woman Teaches Us

 

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She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard. Proverbs 31:16 NKJV

When was the last time you bought a field and planted a vineyard? I’m going to guess that date was probably close to . . . never have I ever!

To be honest, I’ve often found the woman described in these verses to be a source of frustration with her unattainable standards. Take the verse above, for example. I love to garden, but I’m not interested in buying a field and planting a vineyard. I don’t have the time, energy, or know-how. And if you ask my family, you’ll learn I also don’t have the green thumb. My house is where plants go to die.  My gardening skills fall far short of being a gift from the Lord.

So does God intend for me to literally buy a field and start a vineyard? I’m convinced He does not.

But through study I’ve gained a new perspective on fields and vineyards and being that Virtuous Wife.

First let me say, this wisdom is not meant for wives alone. We don’t have to be married to be a bride—the Bride of Christ, which is the church to which we are all members. So single ladies, please don’t check out as I make my way through these thoughts and into this vineyard I’m about to plant.

It’s important to know that Proverbs Thirty-One is a chiastic poem which means it is a sequence of ideas presented and then repeated in reverse order. The wisdom here isn’t a set of building blocks meant to stack on one another, but more like a fence marking the parameters for living a God-honoring life.

GOOD FENCES NEED GOOD CORNER POSTS

 

“But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” v. 30

The fear of the Lord is my trustworthy corner post. It upholds the boundaries of truth and keeps them pulled tight, guarding my way so I don’t stray from His pasture. It is also the quality that guides and directs us in following everything else listed in these verses of Proverbs 31.

This fear is a reverent fear that causes us to worship the Lord and gives us joy in being surrendered and obedient to His Word. With it we learn to stay within in the bounds of righteous living He has established for us.

As I read through and meditated on these verses about this—let’s be honest—amazing, but seemingly impossible to attain woman, I’ve often struggled to find the means of progression. It has felt more like a giant—in more ways than one—to-do list of impossible tasks. I’m a procedurally oriented person. In my mind step one should always come before and lead to step two. But understanding that isn’t how this portion of scripture is written freed me to see an obvious sequence I couldn’t find before.

THE PLACE TO START

What if we started with verse 30? What if we cultivated our fear of the Lord first before we explored the overwhelming list of attributes for being a Proverbs 31 woman?

What if there’s a better place to start unraveling the wisdom of this woman?

 “She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she buys a vineyard.” (v.16)

The Proverbs 31 woman starts here. We don’t fear what we don’t know. This is often true in the sense of physical fear from things that could harm us, but it is always true of the reverent fear of the sovereign power and glory of God.

If we want to develop a true and lasting fear of the Lord, we need to recognize this is the field we not only desire but can’t live without.

BUYING THE FIELD

We need to decide that we are tired of doing life our way, carrying our burdens alone, solving our own problems, sleeplessly tossing the nights away in the tangle of our worries, and living in the state of stress, anxiety, depression, and fear that the broken world would demand of us. We need to humble ourselves and admit that the fruit we found in the field the world has given us is rotten to the core.

We must admit we want something more—that we were created for something more–and believe we can find it.

And we must be willing to buy it.

We will buy this field with our time and energy. We will devote ourselves to cultivating and caring for this field that offers us something more than the world ever can.

The field we are to buy is the Truth. When we develop a strong enough desire for the truth in every part of our lives, then we invest in the field where the truth grows. And that is the Word of God—Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

INVESTING IN THE FIELD

We start to read our Bibles, pray more, and submit to God’s wisdom. We are making payments on that field. We are investing our time and resources.

When we start, our hearts may be like the unplowed soil of a fallow pasture. Maybe the hardships of life and the lies of the world have packed the soil into a hard, almost impenetrable surface. But like a good farmer, we start to remove those stones and break up the soil. Ask any country kid about the job of picking up rocks from the pasture and they’ll have a story to tell. They know the work, but they also know the benefit it will be in producing a harvest.

PLANTING THE VINEYARD

We are preparing our hearts for the Vine. In John 15:1 (NKJV), Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

We’ve discovered the field we desire. We’ve bought the field with our time and devotion. We’ve cultivated it with our surrender—a broken and contrite heart (see Psalm 51:17)—preparing good soil in which the Vine will grow. And as the Vine grows, we will harvest the fruit which is a reverent fear of the Lord.

When we look at the long list of seemingly impossible attributes and accomplishments attributed to the Proverbs 31 Woman, we’ll find the list has become a source of inspiration instead of condemnation.

That is where the Proverbs 31 woman starts.

And it is where she ends.

Questions for Reflection:

Have you ever considered your faith as a field to cultivate?

How much time and energy are you willing to pay or invest to acquire this field?

What will the harvest look like? Why do you want that?

May your works praise you in the gates my Proverbs Thirty-One sisters.