For it is by grace you have been saved...

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Borrowed Thoughts for Mother's Day

So, I'm on vacation and haven't posted here in two weeks or so. Should be back home and back into the daily routine the first of next week. I won't get to preach on Mother's Day for the first time in, I don't know, 20 years. But next time I do, I'll strongly consider these wonderful thoughts on Mother's Day from Pastor Scott Lee. (I'm sure he won't mind my re-posting his words here, but you can go HERE to read it on his blog)

An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels. (Prov 31:10)

It’s easy, sometimes, to overreact. In my zeal not to repeat the mistakes of others, I can end up making new ones of my own. I wonder at times if I’m ever in danger of doing that where Mother’s Day / Father’s Day are concerned.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love my mom– far more than I could ever say! And I think its good to set aside a day once a year to honor our moms and let them know that we think there really is no one like them in the whole world.

My problem comes in the tendency I see in churches to take a day like Mother’s Day and make it the focus of worship. It just seems to be a misappropriation of God’s honor to shift the focus of any worship service off of Him and put in onto anyone or anything else at all. Am I right?

And then there’s a practical concern, as well. When it gets down to it, I’m convinced that what you and I need is not another warm and fuzzy, feel-good experience, or another ‘sentimental journey’ sponsored by Hallmark. What we need is for the life-strengthening, soul-anchoring power of God’s Word to be opened up and applied to our lives.

So let’s take a moment this morning to say ‘Thank you’ to our Moms for what they mean to us. Let’s acknowledge that we can’t think of any job that could be more important than that of a godly parent. Let’s shout from the rooftops, “We love you, Mom! We’re grateful to God for you. We know our lives would be infinitely poorer without you and your Christ-like example of love.” But then for Mom’s sake, let’s shift our focus off of her and on to Him who created motherhood in the first place. And let’s offer our prayers to our Father in Heaven Who alone can give Mom the help she needs!

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