God’s Coworkers: Cultivating Creation
Scripture Reading — Proverbs 31:10-31
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
As a seminary student, I once preached about this text on Mother’s Day. I can only imagine the burden I must have laid on mothers that day as I described the lofty standard of the Proverbs 31 wife and mother.
Proverbs 31 is not dictating how godly mothers and wives are supposed to act. Instead, this passage is describing Wisdom by means of a metaphor. This passage portrays how God’s people can practice wisdom in their everyday lives.
One of the qualities of a life of wisdom is industry. Biblical wisdom, applied in everyday life, appears as someone who buys and sells land, designs clothing, and engages in financial transactions. Through hard work and innovation, a wise person turns the raw material of creation into something that benefits others.
God is the original creator, investor, and designer. He is the original entrepreneur who brings raw material into a form that is usable for us.
Today God continues that work through us. He uses real estate workers who develop land into housing; bakers who use ingredients to make tasty, healthful food; educators, builders, manufacturers, programmers, and more who help make our cities and nations run efficiently. God works through us in so many ways. How are you laboring with God to cultivate his creation?
Creator God, help us to use the gifts and resources you give us to benefit others today. In the name of Jesus, the true wisdom of God, we pray. Amen.
About the author — Rob Toornstra
Rob Toornstra has served as the pastor of Sunnyslope Christian Reformed Church in Salem, Oregon, since 2005. In addition to his pastoral responsibilities, he serves with International Theological Education Ministries, teaching pastors around the globe how to be effective preachers. He and his wife, Amy, have three children, and they enjoy all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
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