Day 6 (15) She ariseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens

Day 6 (15) She ariseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household,

and a portion to
her maidens.

In all fairness , I will have to say ...this is my one of my weakest areas. But I have felt inspired to try harder to get up earlier and to go to bed earlier. I am setting personal goals in each verse to improve in each area in my own life.

Doctrine and Covenants Section 88:124

Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.

Definition: a·rise

intr.v. a·rose a·ris·en a·ris·ing, a·ris·es

1. To get up, as from a sitting or prone position; rise.

2. To awaken and get up:

3. To move upward; ascend.

4. To come into being; originate:

Definition meat

n.

1. The edible flesh of animals, especially that of mammals as opposed to that of fish or poultry.

2. The edible part, as of a piece of fruit or a nut.

3. Nourishment; food:

Proverbs 27;27 And [thou shalt have] goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and [for] the maintenance for thy maidens.

Pro 20;13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, [and] thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

She diligently attends to share as well as to the gathering of wealth, and indeed she is a wise steward for {her lord} has made her vice-ruler of his household.

Luk 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, w

hom [his] lord shall make ruler over his household, to give [them their] portion of meat in due season?

This woman is no fool for she has chosen well the better part of her vocation and attitude to life.

Ecc 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might;.....

Rom 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord...

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men....

The virtuous woman loves her God given role better than her ease or her "pleasure". She is to be found in the way of her duty every hour of the day, and has more true satisfaction in having given meat to her household early in the morning than those who have wasted their money in foolishness and live in the pursuit of "wordly pleasures".

So the verse above could well mean that she was anxious to get her work done (and if there’s a lot to be done in a day then I guess we all feel that way and are keen to get an early start to achieve as much as possible), or perhaps she was pleased with her plans for her family for the day and could not wait to get it completed as she had a great desire to share it with the family. There are a number of ways you could read this. But the end result is, I’m sure, that she had much to do and she was responsible for the end result of what needed to be done.

She works long hours, getting up before the rest of her family, to prepare for her day and to prepare food for them. But it also shows something else. Don’t forget the mention of the ’servant girls’. Verse 15 shows that she didn’t work alone – she had help, in this case, her servant girls. But an important point here is that she also cared for those who helped her. Whilst it is not common today for the majority of us to have servants, it would be an expectation that family members pitch in and help with family matters and errands. The mention of the servant girls shows that she didn’t do it all alone, although she had responsibility for what needed to be done.

Food spiritually may be meant, by her "household" or family, the same with the family of Christ, that is named after himself, which consists of various persons, fathers, young men, and children; and by her "maidens" the ministers of the word; see ( Proverbs 9:3 ) ; who are stewards in the family, and have the food put into their hands to give away; it is by these the proverbs woman gives meat to her household feeds them with knowledge and understanding, with the wholesome words of Christ, with the good doctrines of the Gospel; these have a certain portion given them, and they rightly cut and divide the word of truth, and give to everyone their portion of meat in due season, according to their age and circumstances; milk indeed to babes and meat to strong men; see ( Luke 12:42 )This kind of woman strives to have “all things be done decently and in order” in the home (I Cor. 14:40) She distributes all necessary provisions. She prepares their food early. She is organized and disciplined.