The Truth At Work

Every so often, for whatever reason, I feel compelled to test God’s word and see how well it applies in the ‘real world.’ I mean, I hear it over and over again that The Bible just doesn’t apply to our lives today; that it is an ancient book and was written for a different time for a different type of people. I spent some time last night talking about the things that matter in the character of a potential spouse. So, does it hold up?
As I was thinking about these things, I was standing beside one of my coworkers. It’s not that I stand around a lot. His name is Karl and he said that I could talk about him. If you want to know more about Karl, you’ll have to meet and ask him yourself. What I will tell you about Karl is that he is very pleased with the woman who mothers their children, tends to their home and shares his bed.
So I asked him, “Karl, what are THREE things about Vicki that make her a good wife?”
Being the disorderly employee that he is, he deliberately defied my orders and gave me a list of SEVEN things that he likes about his wife. He claims that he couldn’t condense it into THREE. Here is the list that he gave me;

“She is the most thoughtful person I’ve ever met.
She believes that family is the most important thing
She is extremely generous with her time and thoughts
She is a wonderful mother
She is a very hard worker
Her morals are strong
She has a love for everyone and everything.”

Even though he hadn’t read last night’s post, Karl shared with me that as life goes by, the things on the surface grow to be less and less important. Just so you know, Karl isn’t some right wing fundamental Christian trying to sell us on any specific kind of thinking. Truth is truth. Even for the non-churchgoer, having a virtuous and capable spouse is as precious as winning the lottery. The things that Karl values in his wife are the same characteristics that are found in the woman as described in the final chapter of the book of Proverbs ; hard working, cares for her household, looks after her family, generous, morally upright. I encourage you to read all of Proverbs 31.
There are ways to test what we find in scripture if we are willing to recognize truth for what it is. Wisdom is proven to be right by her actions. In this regard, I encourage you to find people who have been married for at least 10 years, who are very happy with their wife or their husband. Ask them the same question that I asked Karl. What makes their spouse a good spouse? If I were a betting man, I would wager that you won’t have anyone say,
“They are the best spouse because they are good looking, they are good in bed and they drink like a fish.”
Maybe I’m wrong. I can’t be right all of the time.

This isn’t just about the ‘other’ either. How about you? How valuable are you as a man or woman? I don’t ask that assuming that you are a real fixer upper. As I reflect on my life, I really think that my wife has gotten the short end of the stick.


Love Kevin

PS The picture at the top is an actual picture of their hands. I would have put a picture of them, but that might infringe a bit on their privacy. So I gambled with their hands.