“I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”
John 14: 6
12 “Look, I AM coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22: 12-13
Pastors Noreen & Henry Kevern
What Shall I Compare A Mother To
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and called the Son of the Most High.” Luke 1:30-31
Life cannot exist without a mother. A woman is essential to creation as is a man. When God created the heavens and the earth, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number” (Genesis 1:27-28). From the beginning God set the stage for humankind. He set the importance of parenthood, male and female, and the importance of families. Even when God sent His Son, He showed how important a mother was, a father was and a family was. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she conceived Jesus. Joseph was instructed in a dream to take Mary home as his wife (Matthew 1:18-24).
Motherhood takes on a lot of things. As mothers, we start with love, hopes and dreams for our children. We nurture them in our wombs and give birth, or we choose to adopt, because of circumstances. We have instilled in our beings, the ability to be caring, compassionate, and loving mothers. Not all women though choose to take this honor but those that do, they take upon themselves terrifying duties and it does terrify some women. A mother must teach, love, forgive, direct, be hated at times, discipline, counsel, cry, sacrifice, correct, rebuke, hope, fear, dream, and no matter what, never give up on her children. The moment a child is place in their arms, the journey begins in these duties.
It can be very heart wrenching to a mother when her child grows up to become a malicious force of evil, of negativity, or of wickedness. The sorrow and anguish they feel can only be purged by their faith in God. “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because her children are no more…Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded…they will return…so there is hope,” declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:15-17). These verses bring hope to those mothers.
Mothers are to teach their children the way of the Lord. We are equal to fathers as we can see in the 5th Commandment: Honor thy mother and thy father. Honoring parents is but one step away from honoring God. Parents hope that their children use their free will to choose to be a positive force of goodness, of purity and of holiness. According to traditional Judaism, women are endowed with a greater degree of “binah” (intuition, understanding, intelligence) than men. The rabbis inferred this from the fact that woman was “built” (Genesis 2:22) rather than “formed” (Genesis 2:7), and the Hebrew root of “build” has the same consonants a s the word, “binah”. Women did not participate in the idolatry regarding the Golden Calf. Some traditional sources suggest that women are closer to G-d’s ideal then men. (Judaism 101: The Role of Women, www.jeafaq.org/women.htm).
A mother’s love can be compared to the love that God has for us. God is our parent, our Creator, and God is one. Above all God is love. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together like a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37). How often when children grow up do they wander away from their mother and from God. Just like God, a mother longs to gather her children in her arms and protect them, guide them and correct them. Solomon in all his wisdom said, “and do not forsake your mother’s teaching” (Proverbs 1:8).
As mothers we are responsible for teaching our children about God. We are responsible for their upbringing, we are examples to them, sacrificing for our children, protecting them, guiding them and most importantly, teaching them that God is first in our lives. Our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husband, and wives all come after God. We worship and praise God only and we surrender our lives to God’s will. While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him. Someone told Him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.” He replied to him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” Pointing to His disciple, He said, “Here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50).
Some refer to God as “Mother” instead of “Father”. In Genesis 1:27, So God created man (humanity, ’ādōm from Hebrew) in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Both genders are represented as in His image. We will only know for sure when we go home. But it’s important to realize that God created both and that they are to unite and become one. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). God clearly defined in creation, male and female, and from them the creation of family.
We are in fact God’s family. Motherhood, fatherhood, and families instituted from the beginning. Today as Mother’s Day let us thank our mothers for having us, for giving all their best for us, and for their love. Today is the day to thank God for your mother. Today is the day to reach out to your mother and show her your love. Nothing fancy need be done. Moms just want love from their children, respect from their children and most importantly, they want their children to grow in God’s wisdom and love. Every mother deserves love and respect, even if things have gone wrong. The greatest gift God is love. And A mother’s gift to their children is her love. Children, remember to love and respect your mom, even if you don’t like what she has done or is doing. It’s an awesome responsibility being a mom, one that never ends. Moms are humans and can make mistakes but moms try to do their best. After all, she carried you around in her womb, she bore the pain of childbirth, she changed your diapers, fed you, wiped your noses, clothed you, disciplined you, loves you, a million different things. Those things are love, just as God is love.
So what do I compare a mother to? Love, which is God. So to all you mothers out there, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day. I miss you Mom.
Be blessed!
