"Necessity is the mother of invention." While studying Proverbs 31 for this week's Mother's Day sermon, I began to wonder if there was also a "Wife's Day." An internet search provides no clear answer, just a few seemingly random days someone has dubbed for such an occasion.
Perhaps this quest was sparked by personal conviction and stoked by the words of Proverbs 31:28 "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." & verse 31 "Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
Typical sermons on Proverbs 31 focus solely on women and their role in the verses; as do Biblical commentaries and study Bible notes. However, I see the need for men in the church to follow the advice in the Proverb and bless, praise, and honor our wives. Therefore, I hereby declare "Wives Week" to be recognized and celebrated from this day forth. Declaration made on May 7, 2014.
How (and why) a "Wives Week" instead of "Wife Day?" The logic is directly related to the Bible. There are 7 months each year with 31 days (January, March, May, July, August, October, and December). Every time the 31st rolls around on your calendar, you'll know it is time to honor the Proverbs 31 woman in your life. That is 7 times each year. This gives her a week's worth of blessing and praise.
Here are some suggestions to get us started:
I have managed to consolidate the Proverbs 31 woman's "to-do list" into 7 modern tasks-
- Making and mending clothes (we could also do needed repairs around the house)
- Grocery shopping (for "good food" not Slim Jim's and M & M's)
- Cooking (good meals- not microwave burritos)
- Balancing the checkbook, paying the bills and taxes
- Giving time and money to charity (pick something close to her heart)
- Getting the kids properly dressed for the day (most of us men need to work on this)
- Taking time to teach the family the Bible
Doing these tasks for the wife honors her and also honors God. You can select one for each 31st or get bold and do more than one…
Other suggestions would be to buy her a book and give her time to read it (The Chronicles of Narnia and the St. John's Bible are 2 examples of books with 7 volumes). You can take her to 7 different restaurants that serve her favorite cuisine.
The possibilities are open for creativity and personalization.
Please pass this declaration of a new holiday on to as many people as possible. Together we can make a difference in so many lives and remind our wives how much we love them and appreciate them. They need this... the world needs to see this... make it happen.
