Not just for ladies

Of course I do this every day.  Don't you?

What, my son?
And what, son of my womb?
And what, son of my vows?
Do not give your strength to women,
Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.


I've read Proverbs 31 a few times in my life.  The woman described in the second part of the chapter is rather famous for being an incredible wife and mother.  She's incredibly challenging to emulate, in fact!  She sounds almost too good to be true - buying fields and vineyards, never sleeping, holding spindles, making her kids wear scarlet snowpants, and dressing herself in purple tapestries and honor.  Wouldn't your husband love to see you in the kitchen dressed just in strength and honor?  Smirk.
I'm not going to focus on this wonderful lady just now.  There's no shortage of great commentary about her out there.  There is more here than just a how-to lesson for being a mother's idealist dream wife for her son.

It is not for kings to drink wine...
Lest they drink and forget the law...
Open your mouth for the speechless, 
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Something struck me this Mother's Day morning.  This whole chapter wasn't just written for wives and moms.  Actually, it was from a mom to her son.  (Her son just happened to remember it in later life, just happened to be one of the wisest men ever to walk the earth, and just happened to write a lot of good stuff that ended up in the most read Book in the world.)  Coincidence, purely.

I don't know when this momma told these things to her son.  Maybe he was a boy, scribbling chariots and horses in the dirt while she talked to him.  Maybe he was a teenager, and she'd noticed his distraction when a giggling group of young ladies walked by on their way to the town well.  Maybe he had already been crowned king in his father's stead and was humbly feeling his insufficiency for the great job before him.  Maybe she saw his desire wandering after women who were not his wife, his true love.  Somewhere along the line, the mom heart knew her son would be drawn after the "ways which destroy kings."

[The king] shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses...
Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself."  
Deuteronomy 17:16, 17


Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen... The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones... Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt... But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh... Solomon clung to these in love.  And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
1 Kings 10:26-28, 11:1-3

It destroyed his kingdom and his family.


Solomon should have listened to his mommy.

Children do hear their mothers.  They must learn to speak for the speechless, to be champion for the helpless, to find a wife worth more than her weight in rubies - and treat her that way.
Of course, mom will still love her son, even if he stumbles or forgets her lessons.  Its just not that rewarding to say "I told you so," when it costs your son his kingdom.

Still, if your grown son calls you up one day complaining that his wife is running around in purple linen tapestries and chattering about buying a vineyard, take it as a compliment.  She's just trying to be the ideal daughter-in-law.  And tell him to read Proverbs 31.  After all, its not just for the ladies.




"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw.  All I am I owe to my mother.  I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her."  
- George Washington