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.
II. WARNING: WATCH OUT FOR SNAKES.
My Grandfather & my Father raised cattle and citrus. We had equipment stored out in the field, we had lumber stacked, and there was irrigation pipe stored. Across the road in the orange grove there was a giant hole we called the “clay pit”, it was a hole that we put trash & junk in trying to fill it up. As youth we would go over to the clay pit with BB guns & later on in life we would use an old double barrel .410 shotgun and an old .22 caliber rifle & shoot stuff target practicing or we would go out around the equipment in the field & shoot. All of these areas looked “snaky” & my Mother would warn us to please be careful of snakes. (After raising 3 children & having 3 grandchildren I too can appreciate her warning)
II B. Jesus too has warned us about “snakes” in I Peter 5:8 8”Discipline yourselves; keep alert.* Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour”.
I am so glad this morning that He did not say that Satan devours whomever he may but he seeks whom he may devour. Satan is after us. He is out to destroy us. He tempts and lures us trying to get us back with him. Look how he lured Adam & Eve in the beginning and what effect their decision had on the world. If Satan gets you….it will have a terrible effect on you, your life, your eternity as well as your family.
III. WATCH OUT FOR THE WRONG CROWD
I guess when I was younger I didn’t understand why my Mother was so concerned with the folks I ran around with & the places I hung out. I never understood until I too became a parent & my kids began to drive & boys came knocking on my door. (I remember the first time one of my kids came home late & my wife & I were worried) The next day I called my parents in Florida & apologized to them for what I had put them thru.
It is so easy to get hooked up with the WRONG crowd. I saw years later (As an Arkansas Department of Corrections volunteer chaplain) that you could do your absolute very, very, very best raising & protecting your kids & they could so easily get caught up with the wrong crowd & even wind up in prison if not careful.
III C. Jesus too warns us about the wrong crowd. II Corinthians 6: 14-18 14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? 15What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we* are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, 18and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’
We are to separate our selves from the world. To be hooked up with the world & the things of the world is a MISMATCH. We don’t crawl in a hole or get in our own world, we work with & do business with Sinners & the world. The times though when we get hooked up in the world thinking we will influence it…..we are usually the ones that wind up getting influenced by the world.
CLOSING
My Mother was & is still a great influence on my life. Today she still is a:
She is a walking example of HUMILITY. Jesus taught us to be humble as He is humble.
She is a walking example of how you are to treat others. Jesus taught us how to treat others.
But I guess the greatest thing I remember about my Mother is she put us kids before herself. I will never forget this as long as I live. (This is something we very seldom see today) Jesus too put others ahead of Himself when He went to Calvary. I thought of Jesus & my Mother when I heard the story of the number 3. (A man had the number 3 in a picture frame on the wall of his office. Folks think of Dale Earnhardt but he would tell them it was not his number 3. He said the number 3 on my wall reminds me every time I see it of the 3 most important things in my life. 1. GOD FIRST; 2. OTHERS SECOND; and 3. ME THIRD.
Let’s be the example that Jesus intends for us to be.
