Week 8 - "She seeth that her trading is Profitable"

Good Morning,

I love this picture of this woman so happy in her pretty dress and working on something I am sure she is going to give as a gift or sell for a profit, which brings us to Week 8.

I have been at home since my bike accident in August and thinking of ways to make money so I can stay home.  I have been selling items on eBay but not sure if I am really making a profit.  After I pay for posting pictures on the site and paying for shipping costs, I am not sure I have actually made a profit.  I am afraid to actually sit down and look at it because I will be very disappointed if I have actually lost money selling all these things.  I don't think the Proverbs 31 woman would be such a baby.  She would dig right in there, find out if she was making a profit or not, then change what needed to be changed so that her business was profitable.  Oh my....again I feel the conviction....do you?

Well, this scripture is timely as usual.  The Proverbs 31 woman saw to it that her trading was profitable.  So should I, simple as that.  What is the point of doing it then, right?

Here is the write up from the Middletown Bible Church that is SOOOOO Good....and  has been a great supplement to the study I am doing on the Proverbs 31 woman.

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/homefam/prov31.htm

Proverbs 31:18

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good.
 

The word "perceiveth" is the Hebrew word that means "taste."  Literally, she tastes that her gain is good. The same word is found in Psalm 34:9, "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."  God's goodness must be tasted; it must be personally experienced.  Only those who have truly trusted Him have tasted of His goodness and experienced God for themselves.

The word "merchandise" means profit, traffic, gain received from traffic or trade.  The word is found twice in Proverbs 3:14, "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold" (verses 13-14).

The godly woman purchased a field, planted a vineyard, and gave herself to this ambitious endeavor with great strength (verses 16-17).  In verse 18 she is experiencing the rewards of her labor. She finds how profitable her industry is as she experiences the sale of its product.  She sees that her trading is profitable.  She is reaping what she sowed by her diligent industry, and she is finding it to be a good harvest. She is seeing the results of the labors of her hands.  She learns that success results from her labors and she reaps the fruits of hard work.

DON'T MISS THIS PART!

Her merchandise is known to be good, and brings a ready market and a good price; and her knowledge of this is a sufficient reward of itself for her toils; for when the lazy are perpetually uneasy by their reflections on their own conduct, the consciousness of having done her duty, and the prospect of the advantages arising from it, are a constant source of satisfaction and cheerfulness to the virtuous woman (George Lawson, Commentary on Proverbs, p. 564).

This last part is my favorite.  Her satisfaction and CHEERFULNESS comes from her virtuous nature.  UMMMMMMM - I get it.  I do carry a lot of worry that my trading has not been profitable.  If I take the time to sit down and actually see maybe I will be presently surprise.  AND if I find that I have not, well then, at least I know the truth.  There is so much power in knowing the truth.  Walking in Truth is Virtuous!  Virtuous woman are cheerful and satisfied.  


This is the kind of woman I want to be.  


 XOXOXO,


Jenny