In the first nine verses, the author talks about what his mother taught him. Essentially, it is the ageless concern of all mothers—to steer their children away from sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll… without the rock ’n’ roll component. The other piece she emphasizes is looking out for those who can’t look out for themselves. He then describes the person who raised him, and in doing so, makes a compelling case for what a woman of God truly looks like. We call her the Proverbs 31 woman. I’ve said before that I married one of those, and I believe my wife and I raised one of those as well. As he lists all of her accomplishments from verse 11 to the end of the chapter, I find it instructive that he first began by telling us what she taught him to internalize as a man of God. Doing all the right things for very good reasons does not matter if our heart is not turned toward obedience to our Creator. There are men and women in this world who have done very good things, but they are not necessarily focused on God things. They will, for the most part, come back empty according to Scripture. We are told that our good works are like filthy rags compared to God’s perfection. My friend Dwayne used to say, “They were goodly, but not godly.” He was speaking a profound truth in his country way. There is no doubt that our internal obedience to Christ should lead to external behavior that reflects Him. Salt and light have their source within, but they are certainly no good if they don’t come out and bring flavor and vision to the world. Today, follow the example of the Proverbs 31 woman.#BeTheEdge
“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:17 NIV
