How to Make Your Mom Happy!
It would be a noble, regal, and upright goal to make your Mom happy this Mother’s Day (and every other day as well). The Bible says, "Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice" (Proverbs 23:22-25). Today I would like you to concentrate on those inspired words: “…and she that bare thee shall rejoice.” We should want the woman that God used to bring us into this world to rejoice. I would also add, that whether you call the lady Mom because of adoption or because she falls under the category of Step-Mom, she should rejoice, as well. We can make Mom happy by doing the following three things.
1. Knowing Christ as Your Personal Lord and Savior
There are basically two types of people reading this, those who were reared up in a Christian home and those who were not. There is great advantage of being reared in a God-fearing environment, in that you hear the plan of salvation clearly and often. What a joy to accept Christ in the born again experience and then to live most of your life in knowledge of Him. There are some mothers who lament the fact that they did not accept Christ until their kids were well on their way to maturity. They will tell you that nothing would make them happier than to know their kids will meet them in heaven. They would also tell you to please see what Christ has done for them in changing their life!
Perhaps there is one reading this that is not saved, you were even reared in a Christian home, but you don’t know of a time and place when you invited Christ, one-on-one to be your Lord and Savior. You might say, you remember being baptized, or if you were a partaker in the rite of infant baptism, you are trusting in that ceremony to make you part of the family of God. Let me tell you upon the authority of the Word of God, not one drop of water, not even all the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific combined could bring you into right standing before God. God declares baptism to be a “like figure”, "...not the putting away of the filth of the flesh..." (I Peter 3:21). Some have wrested the Scriptures to say things it doesn’t say, such as equating baptism to be the New Testament form of Old Testament circumcision. The Scripture says, “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead" (Colossians 2:10-12). The Bible says three important facts in this passage, a) in Christ we are complete b) human hands that would perform any ritual upon you physically have no saving power or ability to transfer one ounce of God’s saving grace. c) Only the circumcision of the heart given by Christ can avail! Even as the death, burial, and resurrection pictures our salvation by grace, it is alone the “operation of God”, not an operation of man. Many people are going to Hell who formally have their names registered as church members. Please don’t fall into that category!
So, if you have not truly trusted Christ alone for salvation, make your Mom happy by repenting and inviting Christ to be your personal Lord and Savior. I ask you also to make your Mom happy by:
2. Keeping the Rules
One of the sad happenings in life is when kids who know better decide to live by their own standard, rather than the old standard that Mom and Dad enforced when they were younger. The premise that many a pseudo-pious young rebel would chose to live by is, “I am following God rather than man (i.e. Mom and Dad)”. These young usurpers believe that their interpretation of Scripture is not influenced by legalism. Legalism is interpreted by some to be the enforcement of any standard whatsoever. I inject at this point that according to the Bible, it was someone trying to get to heaven by their own works or set of rules. What a shame that loving Christ in such a way that our behavior is modified should be interpreted as wrong. The Word of God said, these days could come, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).
Allow me to broaden the scope of the horror involved. Can you imagine a man married to a sweet godly woman and says two weeks after marriage, “Can you believe it? My wife expects me to be home from work at a certain time, spend a certain amount of time with her--she doesn’t even want me to date other women now!” When you get married you come under a set of rules: some written and repeated at the altar, some are even unwritten, but clearly understood. The one who would resent a faithful behavior toward a wife has missed the point. These rules are kept in the spirit of love, not of legalism. The Bible even says, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). We see that a separated life from this world is not only commendable it is expected.
As we think of many a heart-broken mother, we plead with her children to just keep the rules. You can live without alcohol and tobacco; as a matter of fact you can live longer without it. Leave immorality out of your life, "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;" (I Thessalonians 4:3, 4). When Christ came it was interpreted by many that He broke the rules. But remember, He only replaced them with a higher standard. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5: 27,28). A neat study is to follow the places in the Gospels where Christ said, “But I say unto you…”. He challenged the keeping of the law to rise above the status quo and into the realm of intrinsic holiness. Another benefit of “keeping the rules” is you receive a clear, clean conscience and life becomes a delight rather than drudgery. One more item: keep Mom happy by:
3. Doing Right When Mom’s Not There.
For the younger children reading this, it means doing your chores, homework, and honoring the authority over you without being forced to do so--for the older kids, it means being faithful to an old fashioned, Bible-believing, Christ honoring church, and yet it means so much more than all of this. It means loving your spouse with God’s love. It means rearing your kids the way you were reared. It means giving her the peace of mind that when she has left this world for heaven, you will “...earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). Do more than borrow Mom’s faith in God. Know, love and obey the God your mother adores. "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (III John 4). So, go ahead, make Mom’s day!
- Pastor Pope -