Mothers: Instruments Of God's Grace

So that’s the story of Ruth and how God worked through both Naomi and Ruth to bring into the world our Savior from sin. But let’s now look at what we can learn from this story as mothers and children.

II. God works through mothers

First of all, to the mothers that are here today: Do you ever feel like people should call you “Mara” for all the difficulties and struggles in your life? Are you ever bitter or at least saddened by the “sacrifices” that you have made to be a mother? Do you ever wonder if it’s all worth it? If you would have been happier following your career instead of starting a family?

Well, I think I can safely say that after looking at the story of Ruth and Naomi, that yes, it is worth it. As mothers, God has given you two amazing blessings (well, really more than that, but today we are going to focus on two). The first of these blessings is the fact that you are saved. Yeah, I know, we hear that all the time. But think about it. Are you the perfect mom? Do you always act as God would have you? Do you always discipline in love, or sometimes is it because you are angry? Do you ever look at your life in discontent? Do you think that your life would have been better if you had followed your career instead of raising your children?

You need to be saved. You need that forgiveness which God offers through Jesus Christ. The good thing is that such forgiveness is yours. Jesus won it for us on the cross. It’s a blessing, the best Mother’s Day gift you’ll ever receive. God forgives you for not being the perfect mom. In fact in his eyes you are now the perfect mom because of what Jesus did. What a blessing!

The second blessing that God has given you is your children. The book of Proverbs is filled with verses telling us what a great blessing children are. And I think all the moms here would agree. It is a privilege to have children, and not an obstacle to your career or a cramp in your style. But children are also an opportunity to thank God for the salvation that he has given us. They are our responsibility to raise in God’s Word. That’s right, God works through mothers and fathers to create saved children of God.

We see a great example of that in Naomi. Ruth didn’t want to leave Naomi, not only because of her love for her mother-in-law, but also because she saw Naomi as her teacher of the truths of God’s Word. She told her, “your God will be my God.” Through the guidance and teaching of Naomi, Ruth had become a child of God. And that is your main responsibility as a parent. As we will see next week in Pastor Carlos’ sermon, God commands parents to raise their children up in the instruction of the Lord.

You know today we see both parents working long hours almost every day to provide for their children what they never had, to give their children a better life. But what’s the result? Families aren’t stronger but weaker. Children are spoiled and rebellious. The main responsibility of a parent is to give their children the foundation that they need in God’s Word so that they go to heaven. What good does it do if we give them a better life here, but are to busy to give them what they need to go to heaven?