Proverbs 31:14
The merchants' ships spoken about here were, for the most part, Phoenicians. The Phoenicians of this time were the major traders of the Mediterranean. Their homeland was just to the north of Israel, a very rocky and inhospitable land.
They established colonies all over the Mediterranean, including Carthage on the North-West African coast.
The Phoenicians manufactured purple dye and glass in their homeland and then sailed all over to trade them for other goods, including gold and ebony in Egypt, and cloth and pottery in Greece.
There were other seafaring people at this time, but the Phoenicians had not only developed more extensive trade routes, but they were far superior warriors on the water than anyone else.
It is to be assumed that they were very wise in their financial dealings. They had to have known what each trading post wanted most and what they had to offer, as well as what they would be willing to pay.
I believe this virtuous woman was a wise shopper. She knew what the traders in town had to offer, what her family really needed, (as opposed to what they just wanted or desired), and what a fair price was to pay.
She probably compared the quality of produce from many sources before deciding which was the best buy.
For instance, if there was a lack of rain in Cannon then the dates grown elsewhere- say Egypt- may have been plumper. Even if this fruit cost a little more it would have been a better buy. However if the price were too high it would have wiped out any benefits of the better fruit. It would deny the family other items.
How does this apply today?
The Bible tells us to be wise stewards of what God has so graciously given us.
And if you live in America, odds are that you are living at a historically high standard of living, even if your income is below the poverty level. Even our poorest citizens have homes four or more times the average size of homes worldwide, not to mention utilities, TV, vacuums, and many other things that only the very rich in other countries have.
What is wise stewardship of our money? How do we make the decisions necessary for everyday life when we have so many choices?
I was recently contemplating a sample of this abundance we live in; The Egg Case at my local grocery store.
Have you looked at eggs lately? Such a simple thing; yet, the egg is so symbolic of our overwhelming number of choices, and the difficulty of even knowing how to start making those choices. You can buy:
- grade B, A, or AA eggs,
- brown or white,
- range fed or factory grown,
- eradiated or not,
- organic or not,
- fertile or not,
- even three different brands of "fake" eggs!
After much reading on all sides I finally came to a conclusion- a place to start when making decisions;
God knew what He was doing.
I believe God's original creation was, "Very Good" just as He said. What He provided for us is what is best. The Bible says,
“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death”. Proverbs 16:25
Now, Solomon probably didn't have nutrition or TV, or clothes in mind when he wrote this, but I think we can apply the principle to all areas of life. Certainly looking at what God has said and done should be our starting place for any decision, even buying eggs.
So let's compare those fake eggs to the real things.
For a couple of decades scientists have said to eat the fake eggs because they have no cholesterol and protect from heart disease.
This is not entirely true.
The studies done that linked eggs to heart disease used Powdered Egg Yolks, hardly a natural product.
It turns out that later studies have shown real, whole eggs straight from the shell are the highest natural source of the most powerful anti-cholesterol chemical; lecithin.
The amino acids, vitamins and minerals in an egg are in perfect balance for the human body.
Compare this with the ingredients in fake eggs; egg whites, corn oil (partially hydrogenated oil. These have been linked to heart disease), water, natural flavors (I believe, sugar and salt; one serving has 100mg of salt and 19mg of sugar), sodium hexametaphosphate (?), guar gum (preservative), xanthium gum (preservative), color.
Uhhhhhh, yeah. I don't even know what most of these are!
Which one of these sounds healthier to you; God's pure protein in a simple white package, or man's concoction in a cardboard box?
Some researchers are now saying that up to two eggs a day may be very good for you.
Now, of course, if your doctor has told you not to eat eggs you need to talk to him and do your own research before changing anything, remembering that I and the doctors are human.
The point is, God knew what He was doing when He made the egg and man did not know everything when he "outlawed" them, and doesn't yet know everything.
The Bible, by the way, only has one bad thing to say about eggs; Job refused to eat the whites without salt (and I agree with him!) On the other hand, Jesus called eggs good.
“Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:12,13
"Factory" raised eggs are produced by hens in small cages in buildings, often thousands per building. Many people believe this to be cruelty to animals.
Range fed eggs come from hens on the ground pecking around and acting like chickens.
The Bible does give us instruction to treat our animals humanly;
"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." Proverbs 12:10
However, due to the economics of scale, the range fed eggs are more expensive, and God told us to be wise stewards of our money.
This one is a personal call. You have to research and decide for yourself, which is the best; more humane range fed eggs or cheaper factory eggs.
Irradiated eggs have been treated with radiation to kill the salmonella virus that is becoming increasingly common among those factory eggs. If man insisted on raising chickens the way God designed them, we probably would not even need this choice. As it is, again, do the research.
Irradiation hasn't been around for long and we don't really know if it has side effects (such as destroying some vitamins and protein or turning your hair pink.)
Fertile eggs are from hens that live with roosters. A hen will produce over 200 eggs per year, even if she never meets a rooster. It is part of her natural cycle. Some believe fertile eggs are higher in vitamins and minerals than non-fertile. I, personally, can't bring myself to eat-fertile ones.
Organic eggs have been produced without hormones, pesticides or other chemicals, which are man's way of trying to compensate for some of the effects of The Fall as well as some effects of factory farming. Some believe these additions cause more problems than they solve.
Brown vs. white is an aesthetic thing. I think the brown eggs look neat and my Grandmother thought they tasted better. When Hubby did the shopping, he alternated buying brown and white so we always knew which dozen was the freshest and which needed to be eaten first.
Did you know some breeds of chickens lay naturally blue or turquoise eggs? Imagine, your Easter eggs pre-dyed from the hen!
B, A, AA is simply a size grading system. Keep in mind that most recipes assume you are using grade A eggs and adjust any super sensitive recipes accordingly. Otherwise, the size is a matter of what you like and what is on sale this week.
So what did I decide to do about eggs?
I bought some chicks and built a simple coop in the backyard!
We own a bit more than an acre of land and allow our hens to roam anytime we are home. They have turned out to be incredible fun! And we almost always have not only enough eggs for us, but plenty to share, too. Our hens live a natural, stress free, chicken life, just like God designed them to. They are happy cluckers. And we get brown, white, AND green eggs!
We can’t afford organic feed, so, technically they aren’t organic eggs, but our hens get most of their diet from bugs and weeds in the yard plus leftovers from our table (chickens will eat most anything and are really healthier on an omnivorous diet.)
For us, this has been the best egg solution. Not only do we have plenty of high quality eggs for less than we would have to pay for equivalent in the store, but we know the animals that serve us are having a good, humane life.
You see, a little knowledge and a principle of believing God knows best goes a long way to simplifying one of the thousands of decisions we must make just when grocery shopping. I believe if we get into the habit of applying this principle we will find it simpler to make decisions and in the long run we will make better decisions.
I challenge you to see how many areas you can apply this idea to. Try it when you are picking TV shows (or deciding if you will watch TV at all tonight), or your clothes, or what book to read. Let's see if we can all be better decision makers, maybe become more like merchant's ships ourselves.
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