Honor God’s Gift

May 7-May 8

Honor God’s Gift

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. Proverbs 31:25

What’s the most challenging, but also the most rewarding job in the world? Many would agree it’s the job of a mother. But while it’s not a job in the strict sense of the word, it is nevertheless a task that one must daily take on. Biologically, women are designed for self-sacrifice. If you consider the events following fertilization and the process of embryo development a woman’s body focuses its primary attention to nurturing that new, growing life developing within her. A female’s body will automatically prioritize the needs of her unborn baby. And this inherent gift for self-sacrifice isn’t only biological. There are many women who have not gone through the process of birth and will do whatever they can to assure her ‘children’ have just what they need.

In the New Testament when the apostle Paul was describing his love for the church at Thessalonica, he used the metaphor of a mother’s love to describe how deeply he cared for the Thessalonians. He reminded them that he was like a “gentle” mother who “tenderly cares for her own children”, 1 Thessalonians 2:7. When God described His love for Israel, He did so with a motherhood metaphor. He told Israel that He would comfort them like a mother comforts her children (Isaiah 66:13).

Not one of us came into this world without a mother, and so this Mother’s Day, I hope you will take the time to say thanks to your mother (or motherly figure) in a special way.