1 Kings 3:25-27
25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!”
But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”
27 So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”
Illustration:
I read this story about someone who's had a mother in his church that put her son to bed on the eve of his fifth birthday. She was trying to communicate that birthday idea to him. "Kevin," she said, "this is the last night of your fourth night. Do you understand that?" Kevin was ready to communicate with his hands. For a full year, he had shown people four fingers for his four years, and now he was ready to add a thumb. Seeing his four fingers, his mother nodded, and said: "When you go to sleep tonight, you'll still be 4-years-old. But do you know how old you'll be in the morning, when you wake up?" Kevin nodded enthusiastically, added his thumb to his four little fingers and said, "Tomorrow, I'll be a handful!"
Illustration:
And what of a wedding? A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the service, his mother asked him, "Son, do you know how many women a man is allowed to marry?" "Sixteen," the boy responded. His mother was shocked. "What do you mean, 16?!"
"It's easy," the little boy said. "All you have to do is add it up, like the pastor said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer."
These scriptures tells a story about the love of a mother. These two mothers were living in the same house and both had a child. One mother had a child and then 3 days later the other mother had a child.
Then in the middle of the night one of the women had laid on top of her child not knowing and he died. So she swapped her baby with the other mother that had a living child. When the mother woke up the next morning she found the baby was dead, but after closer examination she discovered the baby was not hers.
After a huge argument they went to King Solomon and he solved the whole mess by offering to cut the baby in half and each mother would have half. The mother that her baby had died said sure go ahead, but the other mother so no do not kill the child but let it live with her.
Mother's are very protective of their children and will come after you when you try to hurt their child.
A mother is someone who will eat after everyone else has eaten so that she can feed the baby.
A mother is often times the one that will get up in the middle of the night to feed their child.
A mother will get up early in the morning to make sure her child has a lunch to take to school.
Mothers have a natural protection to their children.
I remember when I was a very small kid and a rat got in our house in Irving. Mom and my two sisters were standing on the couch screaming and I was helping Dad by saying he's over there. Mom was trying to get me onto the couch with them. I never understood as I got older why they were on the couch. Rats can jump pretty high and climb pretty good.
Mom was always there through everything trying to protect me or make sure I was ok:
I got bit by a boxer dog
I got shot with a 22 rifle
I broke my wrist while riding in a jeep after working on the education building at the Lighthouse.
Or when I was sick she always knew what I needed to make me feel better.
I love to see a mother that will take care of their child.
I had a neighbor that was standing out on the front porch with her young daughter yesterday brushing her hair. She was dressed up and her mother was making sure she was looking pretty for the event.
Exodus 2:1-3
2 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.
2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.
3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.
This is another story of a mother's love. This was a story where Pharaoh had commanded all his people to cast every son who was born to be cast into the river. But the mother of Moses would not let her child die.
Today we celebrate the mother's who not only gave birth to us, but to the mother's who raised us. They fed us, clothed us, and taught us what to do and what not to do.
I have watched my daughter many times be the first one to these altars. She may be going to pray for herself, family or even her children, however she is also teaching her kids to pray and get in touch with God.
To all of the mother's that are here this morning, please teach your kids who Jesus is and what he has done for all of us.
Teach your kids to fear God and love everyone regardless of their faults. We all have faults.
Teach your kids to pray and stay in communications with God always.
Teach them to love one another and to treat people as they would want to be treated.
If your kids are grown and you never taught them back then now is your chance. Teach them that you have changed and they can change too.
Remember that kids learn from watching you. If they see you praying then they will pray. If they see you taking care of someone then that is what they will do.
They always have eyes and ears tuned to you.
If you curse then they will curse.
If you are always negative then they will be negative.
If you are always complaining then they will always complain.
If you are always mean then they will always be mean.
If you talk bad about someone then they will talk bad about someone.
Place God in everything that you do and they will follow.