Can you imagine a world without women? Or a home without a mother? Or a church without the ladies? I don’t need to expound the unfavourable consequences should women become EXTINCT in this world which, oftentimes, consign women to the sidelines. But what does God say about women? Have you heard that after God created the heavens and the earth, He declared His creations, “good”? Referring to the sun, to the moon and the stars, He said, “GOOD.” To the crystal springs and rivers teeming with aquatic life, to the vast seas and oceans that house the denizens of the deep, to the plants and animals, and yes, even to the seasons, He proclaimed, “GOOD.” When out of the dust He moulded the first man and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, this lifeless, useless piece of dirt became a living soul whom He called Adam. And what was God’s evaluation of His first human as Adam strolled around as if looking for something for his satisfaction? What was God’s assessment of this walking picture of loneliness? Here was the first instance of God criticizing His own handiwork as He said, “ It is NOT GOOD for man to be alone.” NOT GOOD FOR MAN TO BE ALONE!! This was one of the best things God said in favour of the woman. If God said it, then it is true. Imagine the first operation that God Himself performed on Adam as He put the latter to sleep without the benefit of anaesthetic, took out one of his ribs and fashioned it into the first woman named Eve. Today, my piece is a tribute to women. For centuries, women had been relegated to second place. Society had put the woman inside a bracket, as if her only rightful piece of territory under the sun was the four corners of her house where she was expected to rear children and to care for the man. In the olden times, it was taboo for a woman to mingle or dine with men. Even in this age of modernization, there are still countries where women are considered second class citizens and where men take the women as mere chattels, properties to be disposed of anytime the men want.
But in every age and time, there always comes a liberator who can break the fetters of bondage, who can unshackle a woman free and allow her to grow beyond the confines of her home. One such deliverer by the name of Jesus was “an obvious emancipator of oppressed women. From the woman in John 8:3-8 taken in adultery in the very act, to the Samaritan woman at the well who had five husbands, John 4:7- 18, to the sick woman whom Jesus allowed to touch the hem of His garment, in all these instances, Jesus showed the value of women. The public and His disciples were aghast at the scene of Him talking, ministering to women of ill-repute, women considered pariahs, persona non grata.. He broke this inhuman treatment of women. He even did things fitted only for women and slaves: washing the disciples feet. He did this in contradiction to the long-held tradition of that society about women. And when it comes to moral issues, He elevated the woman in Matthew 5:27-28: You ( referring to the men) have heard before that you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever LOOKS at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. I like to think of this verse as God’s protection to women against the fleshly desires of evil men. It’s a warning to men: If you break this protection, you have to answer it to God. This is how Jesus value women. But why do it – and in public at that, and in so doing, earned the ire of the Pharisees and the bewildered look of His disciples? Why? Because He wants to proclaim to those around that women are not useless appendices, not additives, not servants, not a chattel. He wants to show to the world that women are priceless, women are valuable, that women possess a soul, that women have dignity. The Bible explicitly says that women, too, are made in the image of God. If He could use these women of no consequence to reveal His unconditional love and grace, He can use us, too, to be a blessing to others- for His glory. Salute to the women who refuse to have their wings clipped by any form of discrimination but instead, by His grace, choose to rise and soar into the destiny God has prepared for them. HER PRICE IS FAR ABOVE RUBIES. PROVERBS 31:10