ON MOTHER'S DAY

God directs our earthly life by assigning to each of us our own tasks and our own station. On Mother's Day we especially remember the task He has given to mothers. Giving birth to children, caring for them and rearing them, is a noble task. God has given children a precious gift, in giving them a loving mother.

In order to accomplish important and demanding tasks we have to deny ourselves and be willing to make sacrifices. This may cause pain and sorrow, but it gives also plenty of satisfaction.

This is certainly true in the case of mothers. She forgets herself and thinks of her children; strives hard in their behalf. The Bible values a mother's love so highly that it uses it to illustrate Paul's courageous preaching and pastoral activity. "But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us" (1 Thess. 2:7,8).

Although a mother's calling is a highly esteemed earthly calling, it cannot save her. Salvation is by grace, through faith in Jesus. It is not of works. This does not contradict what Paul says of a wife: She "shall be saved through the bearing of children if (she) continues in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint" (1 Tim. 2:15). The Apostle does not state that giving birth to a child earns salvation, but rather describes a wife's station in life, in which she fights the good fight of faith. The same truth is stated in a more general way in Acts: "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

A believing mother is a precious treasure to her children. She not only gives them her own love, but also teaches her children to know the love with which God has loved us in Christ Jesus. Timothy's mother, Eunice and grandmother, Lois, are good examples of this (2 Tim. 1:5). They taught Timothy, already in his early childhood, to know the holy Scriptures. May God continue to give children mothers like this.