Moms Are Special!

Happy Mothers Day! I’m sure we all realize that moms are special. They do a lot of work to keep the family together on the home front and many do this while holding down a job. We all know that the Bible says that faith without works is dead. That means that a lot of moms have a lot of faith because they do a lot of work believing that their children will grow up to be awesome! That’s faith. So today we are going to look at some things from the Bible that might not be always part of a message on moms.

Genesis 25:21–28 NIV

21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. 27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

A Mother’s love is different!

Do you notice the difference here? Issac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game and Esau was a skillful hunter! Rebekah loved Jacob because she loved Jacob. Notice it didn’t say because she loved having Jacob help around the house. There was no indication of her loving Jacob because of what he did. Bring this down to today’s situations. Dads will be all out proud of their sons playing football or basketball or whatever. As part of a football coaching staff, I’ve seen dads get excited when their sons score and equally upset when they make a mistake. Moms of the other hand, love their children regardless of what happens. I hear them say it’s okay, when there’s a mistake because they love differently.

Genesis 27:1–10 NIV

1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. 2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” 5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

Mother’s have influence on their children!

Now this is a negative example of what can happen where Jacob, whose name means supplanter, or deceiver, is told to deceive his father by his mother so he can get the blessing from Issac. Notice that Jacob was a deceiver but so was Rebekah. Hmmm. It’s important that moms know just how important their role is in the development of their families. Now let’s look at a more positive example of this principle in the new testament.

Luke 1:26–38 NLT

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

Mary set a standard!

This was the family standard. Basically Mary told the angel not by will but God’s will be done. Sound familiar? She was willing to be possibly put out by Joseph, who actually thought about that, and the fear of being disgraced and yet she said not my will but whatever you said be done. Jesus was raised in that environment. Wait a minute, Jesus was God. Yes but he came as the Son of Man to pay the price for our sins. A perfect man without sin, the second Adam had to redeem the sin set in motion by the first Adam. So he was raise by Mary and Joseph.

Luke 2:41–52 NIV

41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” 49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Jesus was obedient to them and grew!

His mom had great influence on Him as moms do in every family. There is a reason why most pro athletes when they are on camera say thanks mom! So today we say, Thanks Moms!