What Can I Learn From A Mom

What I can learn from a Mom

Matthew 20:20-23

READ “Things moms teach us”.

* Mothers teach us about foresight: "Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you’re in an accident."

* Mothers teach us about logic: "If you fall out of that tree and break your neck, don’t come crying to me."

* Mothers teach us about maturity: "Eat your vegetables or you’ll never grow up."

* Mothers teach us about religion: "You better pray that comes out of the carpet."

* Mothers teach us about time travel: "If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

* Mothers teach us about contradictions: "Shut your mouth and eat your dinner!"

* Mothers teach us about contortionism: "Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck?"

* Mothers teach us about perseverance: "You are going to sit here until you eat every last piece of that broccoli."

* Mothers teach us about genetics: "You’re just like your father."

* Mothers teach us about the weather: "It looks like a tornado swept through your room."

* Mothers teach us about the circle of life: "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

* One of the tasks of mothers has been and is “teaching.” When we are young, very few (if any) hold as much influence over children as mom. That is why when the football player waves to the camera, he says, “Hi Mom.” Dad may have taught him to play football, but mom is the big number. That is why when airliner was going down, the little black box records the last words of the pilot as, “Mom, I love you.” Our ladies are seemingly always on the front lines of family, giving unselfishly that their families may have.

* This morning we have read a scripture which is frequently used to illustrate seemingly negative things and rightly so. At first blush, the story is of a mom trying to “weasel” her boys into the best seats in the house in the Kingdom. I simply say “the Kingdom” because it seems to me that this mom didn’t perceive that Jesus’ Kingdom would be in heaven, but still thought He was going to overthrown Roman rule.

* However, let’s consider 5 lessons we can learn from Salome, the mother of James and John. From her, let’s learn some “how tos” & “what tos.”

1. The Approach to Jesus – There are several lessons we can see in this.

* First, she obviously knew that to get the best life had to offer that Jesus was the one, so she made it a point to come to Him. For years, the picture of mom was sung in the old song, “IF I could only hear my mother pray again” which is one of the greatest pictures a child can have about his mom. While dads have the ultimate responsibility for teaching and training the children about spiritual things, Mom’s influence is immeasurable. She teaches us to approach Jesus with both our needs and our desires.

* Next, she brought her children to the feet of Jesus. Perhaps one of the outstanding positive lessons we can learn from such a questionable story is the importance of having our offspring with us when we approach our Lord. And think about this, her kids were grown! Whether or not her motives were pure matters little for what we can learn from her. She brings herself, her kids, and her requests to Jesus. The Bible tells us to bring our needs, families, and even wants to Jesus.

* The message of Jesus is always the same. It is, “Come to Me” or “Bring it to me.” Mothers teach us all kinds of lessons but one of the greatest is to “bring all your cares to Jesus.”

2. The Attitude toward Jesus – It is very interesting to watch children and discover that they carry the attitude of their parents. If a parent carries prideful, arrogant, or negative attitude, the kid(s) will pick up on that &, as a general, will project the same attitude as their parent. If a parent carries a positive, happy, and caring attitude, then the child will pick up on that. This is especially true in the case of mom because, generally, she spends a great deal more time with the little ones. Notice this mom’s attitude toward Jesus.

* HCSB says, “She knelt down before Jesus.” Most of the newer translations say she “bowed down” but the KJV says she came “worshipping Him.” Candidly, for all we may see that she did wrong, she taught her adult boys how to show respect to the Lord. The word worship literally means to kiss or lick the hand. A couple of years ago, I brought a young lady up on the platform and demonstrated this type of action. Getting down on one knee and kissing her hand was a display of respect and affection.