Mother’s Day 2006
gtcotr/ss051406
Key Scripture: Proverbs 22:6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. (NKJV)
What goes on in the White House is not nearly so important to the nation as what goes on in your house.
It has been said that “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”
The Apostle Paul, late in his life and ministry while imprisoned in Rome, expecting to be executed, wrote to his young friend and disciple Timothy. What did he write?
2 Timothy 3 (NKJV)
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Just who did Timothy learn the Holy Scriptures from during his childhood?
In the beginning of the book of 2 Timothy, which would be Paul‘s last letter to Timothy, Paul gives us the answer to this question.
2 Timothy 1 (NKJV)
1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,
4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy,
5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
The Apostle Paul was well familiar with Timothy’s family and situation of life. Luke, during his well researched accounts of how Christianity spread from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and ultimately to the uttermost parts of the world, wrote also concerning Timothy’s family.
Acts 16 (NKJV)
1 ¶ Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.
Let me put this together for us this morning.
Timothy’s mother was named Eunice. She was a Jew who married outside her religion and her culture. She married a Greek man who was neither a Jew nor a Believer.
This, no doubt, caused some problems in her family, or at least with her mother, Lois. Eunice, married outside the culture, outside the religion and no doubt, outside expectations. This had to be disappointing.
No matter how children are raised, they will make some decisions in life which give you comfort and others which give you concern.
However, Lois had either raised Eunice up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, to fear Him and to have respect for His ways, or else, when Lois got born again, she went to her daughter right away and shared Jesus with her. Either way, both Lois and Eunice, though having some disappointing seasons of life, became one in their faith in Jesus.
Most likely they were born again during Paul’s first missionary journey when he visited Lystra as recorded in Acts 14. Years later Paul meets up with Timothy, the son of Eunice and grandson of Lois, in whom these two ladies had deposited the faith of God.
Timothy’s father, a heathen man, seemed to have less influence on his upbringing than did these two women. Their faith and faithfulness to God and His will left an indelible mark on Timothy’s life.
The bible tells us that One believing parent sanctifies a child from birth.
1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Mothers leave a lasting mark on their children.
Today we celebrate mother’s day, but in reality, everyday is Mother’s Day.
What do we learn from the scriptures this morning?
1. God has designed it so that Mothers reproduce themselves in her children.
2. God has made it so that Mothers carry and shape the future.
3. Mothers feed the dreams and the fears of their children.
4. Mothers, teach the Holy Scriptures to your children in their childhood and in their adulthood so they will know how to live when they grow up and have children of their own.
