Eyes On Your Own Plate

“I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?” (Job 31:1-2 AV)

 

Job’s statement here would do well to be in every man’s heart.  The covenant he made with his eyes in verse one is predicated on the truth of verse two.  That truth is his wife is the portion which God has given him and since God gave her to him, he was no need or right to look on another man’s portion.  Married or not, the maid upon which he might gaze is either a man’s wife or more than likely, will be.  Solomon states,  “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.” (Ec 9:9 AV)  God gave Eve to Adam.  He did not give Eve to Adam and then create other women for him to gaze upon.  The wife of his youth is his portion.  She is meant for him.  Appropriate and a perfect fit, Eve was meant for Adam, and Adam was meant for Eve.  It is on this truth fidelity is established. 

Growing up in such a large household, rationing food was common.  Otherwise, eight boys would have eaten my parents into the poor house.  My father refused to eat left-overs and he hated it when food was thrown out.  So, he required my mother to make enough food so that there was sufficient for one meal and no more.  We could not waste a thing.  One can imagine how dinner time went.  To say it was a bit of a challenging time would be an understatement.  As each dish was passed around, the portion was announced.  One scoop of corn.  On scoop of potatoes.  Two pieces of meat.  And so on.  No doubt, when one sibling was gathering his portion, there were twelve sets of eyes on his plate!  One roll!  That was the big one.  One pat of butter.  As much water as you could drink.  When it came to dessert, it was the same.  Accept Jell-O, because that is usually what dessert turned out to be and who really likes Jell-O anyway?  Christmas cookies were the worst.  There were all sorts of shapes.  However, the snowman was easily two times bigger than any cookie.  So, when we were allotted one cookie, guess which one we dug for?  Our eyes were on the portions of others and what that did was it make us dissatisfied with the portion allotted to us.  The same is true for a spouse.

Job is very wise here.  The wife God gave was his portion.  Even though she wasn’t the most spiritual one in the pew, she was his.  Even though she was bitter at the loss of her children and encouraged Job to curse God and die, she was still his.  She was never, nor will ever be, another’s.  At least as long as they both shall live.  Next time we are tempted to gaze upon the portion which belongs to another, let us remember God knows what He is doing and gave to us the portion best suited for us.  Sometimes, the portion size varied depending on the age of my sibling.  The older, the larger the portion.  He or she needed more.  When we are tempted to gaze at another’s portion, we are saying what we have is insufficient.  We are accusing God of being negligent in assigning our portion.  We best be careful of that charge.  God knows what He is doing and we must be grateful for the portion God gives.