Motherly Love

1 Kings 3:16-28 Motherly Love

Intro: Read: "What Is a Mother?" from Tale of the Tardy Ox Cart, p.395.

A mother does all the things listed because she loves her children.

In order to help illustrate a Mother’s love, we turn today to one of the best known stories in the entire Bible. This story is known around the world as an illustration to the wisdom of Israel’s third king, Solomon.

Obviously, we aren’t condoning this mother’s lifestyle, but I do we can see some things about a mother from this story.

Prop: We should all realize the love our mothers have their children & be thankful for them.

I. A mother’s love is universally well known (16-28).

A female’s maternal instincts and human compassion are known the world over.

I am quite sure you could go to the deepest, darkest, most remote place on the earth and this would hold true.

This is true of animal mothers…

No one wants to get between a momma & her baby….

Ill. #1: Some of you may remember in our study of 2 Samuel, when Absalom leads a rebellion against David, one of his advisors said go after and kill David right away. However, his other advisor, Hushai, warned Absalom "… thou knowest thy father and his men, that they [be] mighty men, and they [be] chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: …"(2 Sam. 17:8). Hushai was trying to get him to picture the meanest and angriest thing he could think of, and a momma bear robbed of her cubs did the job quite well… It did it so well, that Absalom followed his advice.

No hunter, in his right mind wants to get between a momma and her baby…

I learned this lesson myself at a very young age, when over visiting at the "family farm."

Ill. #2: When I was just a little kid, I got between a mother hen and her chicks, let me tell you this much, I didn’t stay there for very long as she charged me with her wings all furled out…

This is just as true of human mothers…

Solomon, in his wisdom, uses this well known fact. This knowledge is what enabled him to successfully try the case.

Solomon no doubt learned what a mother’s love is like from his mother, Bathsheba.

What does Solomon know about a mother’s love?

II. A mother’s love is nurturing (21).

This mother rose in the morning to nurse her baby boy.

For a mom, sleeping in, is usually out of the question. There is a child who needs to be cared for. This mom got up in the morning (dawn, at the breaking through of the daylight).

It is true that these ladies didn’t have anyone else to help them.

But, the responsibility for taking care of the children, especially as babies, usually falls

on the mother.

If your kids are going to eat, and eat healthy, it will usually depend on the mom.

Ill: Pastor Musgrave only fed his kids French fries….

Ill: Totally forget to feed them…

Mom’s this means that you need to be disciplined, get to bed at a decent time after putting the kids to bed and getting up in the morning to take care of your children….

This is what a loving mother does, because a mother’s love is nurturing.

Trans: A mother’s love is not only nurturing, but it is also Resourceful…

III. A mother’s love is resourceful (16).

A mother uses all means at her disposal to take care of her children.

This mom took this case to the Supreme Court. Going to the King was like the highest court in the land.

She didn’t give up. She kept on fighting for her child.

There is no way of knowing how many times prior to this that she has pleaded her case before someone….

She kept appealing to higher & higher powers…

Typically, there isn’t anything or anyone more tenacious than a mother fighting for her child. It doesn’t matter who or what gets in the way. You better watch out if it is you.

IV. A mother’s love is attentive (21).

"consider" in v.21 has idea of perceiving pertinent data by using your senses.

Can’t you just see the likely scenario.

This mom gets up to nurse her baby. She finds the baby dead. She would have likely taken the child in her arms, sobbing & holding the baby, thinking her child is dead. No doubt later, she starts thinking more clearly. This mom begins looking at & examining the baby. She must be in shock as she begins to think, "this isn’t my baby…"

She tells Solomon in v.21 "Behold, it was not my son, which I did bear."