Happy Mother's Day

Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
Deuteronomy 5:16 "'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
Psalm 22:9-10 You brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast. 10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born.
Psalm 139:13-14 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Today, being Mother’s Day, I sat down and pulled up Bible verses that spoke to us children about our mothers. Our Lord God created pro-creation through the family system (Genesis 2:24), and the relationship of a child to their mother is in focus this special day as they are honored. The Word of God (All Scripture) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) What does the Lord speak through the Bible to guide us in an outstanding relationship with the one who gave us life? The love of our mother, and her godly instruction, is not to be forsaken or neglected.

Proverbs 1:7-9 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck.
Proverbs 6:20-23 My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.
Proverbs 23:24-26 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

I lost my mother in 2001 and miss the ability to see her, to talk to her, to hear her voice, to hug her and to see the joy on her face. Like the Football player’s saying “Hi mom” on national television, the heart of a man naturally desires to love and honor the one who has always been there for them since the beginning, caring, nurturing, protecting, guiding, raising, instructing, counseling, listening and trusting because we know that we are her’s and she is ours alone. I love to hear when daughters say that their mother is their best friend. That's our mom. What a wonderfully unique relationship the mother/child relationship is.

Matthew 19:18-19 And Jesus said, "Honor your father and mother.”
Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3"that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land."

Time goes by so quickly and we get use to the daily routines of life, sometimes to the point where we take things for granted, like mothers. We naturally think that they will always be there, because they are always there for us. We wouldn’t want it any other way because, when it is right as God intended, that mother/child experience is the best and nothing else gets any better then that here. I am not devaluing the relationships that we have with our God, our fathers, our wife or husbands, or our children. The Lord designed and made them all for us to enjoy life and grow. Today, though, we take a moment to single out our mothers and what our moms mean to us. What is always in the heart every day is celebrated and our loving gratitude expressed. Honoring our mother is one of God’s “Big Ten” because this is how the Lord intended life and love. By honoring our mother, we honor the Lord. Happy Mother’s Day all you moms out there. May your day, a day that the Lord has made, be filled with blessings.
In Christ, Brian