CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
May 9, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
PRAYERS AND PRAISE:
God’s will for our congregation Various friends, relatives, and co-workers
Our nation, military and leaders Praise God for mothers
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY
“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 5:16).
When God created humanity, mothers were His highest priority. Mothers are the nurturers of life and family. Some have suggested that wives make husbands peaceful and mothers raise sons with the same results. Without a doubt, it takes a mother and father to raise children; this is the ideal that God developed. It is so important that it became one of the Ten Commandments. Mothers played an important role in scripture.
The most famous mother in scripture is, of course, Mary the mother of Jesus. She was a teenager of great faith who was willing to endure shame from family and friends, but was willing to trust God (1). She had a difficult burden in watching her oldest child grow into what God had planned for Him. She was blessed with at least six other children, four sons and at least two daughters. When Jesus was twelve, He stayed at the Temple in Jerusalem during the festival time. Realizing on their way home that Jesus was not with them, Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem and searched for three days before finding Him. Luke tells us that He grew “in wisdom and favor with God and people” (Luke 2:52). She was at the cross in what had to be the most difficult time of her life and watched Jesus die. And we find her in the company of believers in Acts 1 as they wait for word from God to proclaim the Messiah to the people.
The most famous mother in the Old Testament would be Sarah. A number of things surround her. She was a beautiful women in what we would call her older years. She knew of the promise God had made to her husband Abraham that God would bless the world through his children, yet she had no children (see Genesis 12:1-3). Sarah attempted to help God along, which she realized was a mistake. Ishmael would be a problem for her, and for Israel. Then messengers came from God and told Abraham and Sarah that she would have a child in her old age. They laugh and God gave them the child’s name, Isaac, which means laughter.
There are many more mothers mentioned in scripture. Hannah prayed that she would have a son and God blessed her with Samuel. An angel appeared to a woman and told her she would have a son who was to be raised as a Nazirite; and Samson was born. Jacob had two wives and two servant women from his wives who bore him thirteen children. Rebekah had twins, one of several mentioned in scripture. During the period of the kings, the mother of the king is often mentioned. While very little, if anything, is known about these mothers, they played a role in the spiritual direction of the king. For instance, Ahaz was an unfaithful king in Jerusalem, whose son Hezekiah was faithful and overturned the wickedness of his father. Yet his son Manasseh was a wicked king, and even though he repented, his son was unfaithful. The next king however was the faithful Josiah. In my mind, it was the mothers who had the most influence in their lives.
Four famous Old Testament mothers are found in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. Tamar, Rehab, Ruth, and Bathsheba all were a part of the family line to Jesus. There stories are interesting and worth reading and comparing it to Mary’s situation.
Several mothers are mentioned in the New Testament. Of all of them, the mother and grandmother of Timothy are the most important. Here we find out their names, Eunice and Lois respectively (2 Timothy 1:5). They were women of faith who raised Timothy in the scriptures (3:15).
In recent years, motherhood to some extent, has taken a beating. Stay at home moms have been ridiculed by the modern feminist movement. Sadly, government welfare has taken the place of fathers so that single mothers have become prevalent. One has to admire mothers who raise their children by themselves and turn out honorable people. But that is not always the case. And the news has reported worse concerning some mothers. Individualism and selfishness so dominants some women’s lives that children are ignored. We have much to pray for concerning this situation.
About a hundred or so years ago, someone wanted to honor their mother. They began by sending cards and out of that small beginning came what is now official. The second Sunday of May is officially Mothers Day. Each year mothers are to be honor on this day. A whole industry has developed around this with flowers, cards, candy and going out to eat. Mothers deserve the honor for all they have to put up with in raising children.
Say a little prayer of praise and thanksgiving for mothers today. May God bless us all through our mothers!
George B. Mearns
(1) See the movie, The Nativity Story, for this idea.