Jesus Warning His Children

Colossians 1

Today is the day we choose to HONOR Mothers. I thank God every day for my Mother. She is in Auburndale Florida. This being Mothers day I thought about when I was a kid living in Florida. I thought about how important our Mothers are to us. I know how important my Mother was to me.

We like to try & figure out why God thinks like He does or why He does what He does. Each Mothers Day I have always said that in comparing God’s love to us, the nearest & closest comparison would have to be in the love a Mother has for her children. (I know today we read about Mothers that drowned their children, abuse their children, do horrible things to them)

These are not Mothers. I believe God has given a Mother the NATURAL INSTINCT to love & protect their children. I see Mothers today that put THEMSELVES before their children. This IS NOT natural. (Growing up as a kid in Florida raising cattle, we had cows that were gentle and easy to handle but some of them would become very, very protective & their disposition would change drastically when they had a calf) I’ve even seen gentle female dogs change when they had puppies. What has happened to the new generation of Mothers today?

There were 4 of us kids. I was the oldest & I participated in football/baseball. My brother was in football/baseball, my sister was a cheerleader when we played football, and she also played softball & ran barrels. My youngest brother was in football/baseball but when he was little & we were playing he was the “batboy”. So you can see that my Mother stayed hooked just keeping my brothers & sister & I all hooked up. (I heard on the radio this morning that the average housewife Mother works 95 hours a week) My mother could have worked outside of the home, she could have driven a brand new car but instead she chose to drive a Dodge Dart with well over 100,000 miles. She never complained, not one time!!! As we grew older we participated in even more things, showing animals in FFA & traveling all over the state of Florida in high school rodeo.

I am truly blessed.

COLOSSIANS 1: verses 24-29

24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.

If there was a key word today it would be “warning”. WARNING: give notice of danger, caution. Here Paul talks about warning folks, Paul cared about people as does Jesus. He loves you & me to the point that He warns us.

This morning I want to use warnings that my Mother gave us as children that I can relate to today biblically.

I. WARNING: WATCH OUT FOR THE ROAD.

We lived in Pine Hills in Orlando when I was in elementary school. We lived across the street from the Pine Hills Elementary School. During the summer we spent a lot of time playing on the playground, basketball courts, baseball & softball fields. The road was very busy & my Mother would always tell us to “be careful and watch crossing the road”.

I A. Jesus too has warned us about a road. To watch out for the roads (there are only 2 of them) Matthew 7: 13-14 13 ‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy* that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

There are 2 roads today. One is easy because it is well traveled because there are many that travel down it. This road has a wide gate. (Getting ready for the tractor driving contest in school for FFA, we started off with the course being wide making it easier but as the teacher narrowed down the course it became harder) This road does lead us somewhere….to a life of destruction & then to eternal death. The other road Jesus talks about has a narrow gate & the road is hard. Only a few will find it & travel down it because it will lead to eternal life.