What is the most precious of these three … Diamonds, Rubies or Gold?
I failed the quiz. I would have picked diamonds but apparently rubies are more precious.
However whilst rubies might well be very precious the book of proverbs says that their are two things even more precious than rubies. The first, wisdom and the second, a wife of noble character.
How good it is to have God’s Word. It helps us to put value on what God sees as important and to devalue what is temporal and of fleeting worth. The wise person according to the Proverbs is the one who fears God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” is the signature tune of Proverbs.
It is not a cringing fear of God that is spoken of, but a reverential awe of the God who has made us and who longingly sustains us and the unwise. The wise person will seek to learn all that God has so kindly revealed. They know that this wisdom does not originate or even reside in all our learning but in the Bible, God’s love letter to humankind. Such knowledge will humble us and enable us to make good choices in life. Such knowledge is practical and good for us. The writer reminds us “not to be wise in our own eyes”; and “to fear the Lord and shun evil.” Its result “will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”
The book of Proverbs reminds me that “a wife of noble character … is worth far more than rubies.” How I thank God for my wife.
Any married man who claims to be wise must cherish his wife and do all he can to encourage and care for her. He will certainly not forsake her. Married women will be wise to remember their nobility – that of being made in God’s image – and seek to develop their character – that inner quality of a gentle and godly spirit.
Real wisdom would remind both men and women that we have complementary, not competing, roles; that we can, by thoughtful service to one another, do so much that will grow each other’s character and love.
Where God is honoured in every area of life, especially in marriage, a rare and precious gift is given to others, to our children and to the community.
Apparently rubies are pretty hard to find, but the rubies of wisdom and noble character are available to all who will mine God’s word of its treasures. They are waiting to be found, enjoyed and valued above all else.