Saturday, November 26-guest post by Pamela

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is

Ezekiel 27-29; 1 Peter 3

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:7

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Observation: Sometimes what sticks out as most important overshadows our ability to hear what is really important.

Application: Society has brainwashed us to believe that women can do anything that men can do and that any admission that we can't is a sign of weakness. Verses like this, enrage the feminists. The "weaker vessel" part screams injustice, division, and outdated philosophy to scads of people who use verses like this to claim that the bible is no longer valid to our life today.

Admittedly, I am a terrible feminist. While I believe that women should have choices (they should have the right to vote, they should be allowed to choose marriage or not), I also believe that men should have a leadership role in the house. This is what God intended and I think he wired us that way. I will easily admit that I do like being taken care of and I have have no problem giving my husband that responsibility. I do work outside the home-a choice more motivated by what kinds of extra things we want for our kids than that I want to be a career woman- but I also think that my primary job is to be a wife and homemaker. I know that sometimes I struggle with my priorities but that just reinforces the idea to me that I was not meant to do it all. Being referred to as the "weaker vessel" doesn't bother me. However, those two words fire up many people and mask the most important parts of the verse.

Though shadowed by the "weaker vessel" notation, I think it is really important to notice that Husbands are commanded to "live with [their] wives in an understanding way" and to show "honour" to them. If you look in the dictionary, "understanding" means: "characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension,

intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like: an understanding attitude."

This sounds amazing! Husbands are commanded to appreciate the work of their wives and be prompted to live with their wives by recognizing their role as crucial. They are also called to "honour" their wives. If you look in the dictionary, "honour" means:

	to hold in respect or esteem
	to show courteous behaviour towards
	to worship
	to confer a distinction upon

It's a shame that criticizers of this verse don't highlight these things.

The most important thing that gets overlooked in this passage is that women are proclaimed as "heirs with you" or "joint heirs" of the gift of salvation. How can this be overlooked? Women are not proclaimed as the "weaker vessel" to belittle them. How can a "joint heir" be less important? Unfortunately, this part of the verse gets practically ignored as people focus on what they believe "weaker vessel" portrays about women.

How many times in our own life do we focus on what we perceive as insulting and ignore all of the other stuff around us? I think it is Satan who thrives on us failing to see what truly matters. If we don't take the context of a verse, a situation, or a story our perception of what we are led to believe as the main point is skewed. We percolate on stuff that is irrelevant (or at least insignificant) and ignore the stuff that truly matters.

Years ago, my cousin sent me information on a "Chicken Soup for the Bride's Soul" story submission opportunity. I knew instantly that I had to submit the story from our marriage counselling. During one of our first sessions with him, our Pastor took a piece of white paper and drew a dot in the middle of the page. He turned it around and asked what we saw. My then fiance and I looked at each other and said "a dot". He smiled and asked us what else we saw and we looked at each other in confusion. He then told us what we were missing: all the white space around the dot. He explained that in marriage, it is easy to see the troubles in a relationship as plainly as the dot on the page. However, looking closer, you can see all of the good things too like all the white space on the page. It was a great reminder. That story was actually published and you can check out my story on page 309! :) I think it applies to many circumstances in our life where we tend to focus on the dots and leave out all of the other important things.

Prayer:

Lord, Your word is true and timeless. Even though society has changed Your living word remains as applicable and helpful today as it was when it was first written down. Lord, our judgement is sometimes clouded by what others make us believe and we fail to focus on what is important. Guide our hearts, guide our thoughts, and guide our actions in a way that makes us obedient to Your plan. Help us to focus on what is significant and lead us away from what is insignificant. Be with everyone who is struggling with this and help them to see what is truly important. Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 30-32 - 1 Peter 4