Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the city gates.
Ours isn’t the first society to host beauty contests. It seems that even back in the days when Proverbs was written, people were being judged, sometimes in error, on outward appearances. But the last lines of this proverb (and the whole book) cut through the façade and address the heart of the matter.
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
If, in our hearts, we will fear the Lord (respect, stand in awe, listen to and follow God’s Word) our life will have the best chance of turning out right.
Proverbs started with an appeal for us to seek wisdom. That wisdom is still found in the pages of God’s Word to us – the Bible. Some wise person once described the B.I.B.L.E.
as Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
Wisdom is waiting.
Dear God, keep me hungry for Your Word each day. Feed me through the Living Word, our Lord and Savior Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.