A Mother's Love

If you have a tendency to grab a piece of scripture and read it apart from its surrounding passages,

our text this morning may not carry the idea of a mother's love.

It may instead feel somewhat like an attempted abandonment.

It may look like a stroke of luck if you believe in such as that.

It may look like a fairy tale.

But in reality, it's a wonderful account of the early days of one of God's mighty men

that was preserved in a trying time to lead a people to the God of promise.

Our passage today would not appear to be an example of a mother's love, but man is it.

It's in Exodus chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, and it says this.

Exodus 2 · chapter mention

Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman.

The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.

When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes

and dabbed it with bitumen and pitch.

She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds of the riverbed.

And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.

Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river while her young women walked beside the river.

She saw the baskets among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it.

But when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying.

She took pity on him and said, this is one of Hebrews' children.

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter,

shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?

And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, go.

So the girl went and called the child's mother, and Pharaoh's daughter said to her,

take this child away and nurse him for me, and I'll give you your wages.

So the woman took the child and nursed him, and when the child grew older,

she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son.

She named him Moses because she said, I drew him out of the water.

Now what would appear to look like abandonment is really quite the opposite.

Because this passage speaks of the time when the Hebrew people were slaves to Egypt.

And Egypt were attempting to kill any Hebrew boys that were born

in order to stifle the growth of their slaves,

afraid that that slave body would get so large that it would overtake the Egyptians.

So they were instructed that if a boy was killed to be killed upon,

if a boy was born to be killed upon the spot.

That is awful.

When we think about that, it shocks us to read such as that.

I want to be clear.

We should be even more shocked that a civilized, free country

that's been built on the faith of the Judeo-Christian faith,

like the United States,

is battling over right now the same thing for many children.

They're just making sure they do it while the child is in its mother.

It's called abortion.

Not only is it allowed, but it's fought for and celebrated

as the power the woman has over her own body.

And I just want you to watch the rage that is taking place in our country

right now over Roe and Casey and the possibility,

the hinting of it being overturned

in an unprecedented leak to stir the pot

in a hopes to change the direction that the Supreme Court takes.

Folks, lost folks are bloodthirsty to kill the ruling

just as bloodthirsty as they are to kill the babies.

And the whole time they speak of the rights of women over their body,

but actually it's the body of the child

that has to be discarded afterwards

or maybe saved for research.

What a shame.

And I want you to know this morning

that God hears the cries of an aborted child.

Thankfully, the faith of Hebrew midwives came in.

And they were often called on.

And when they were called on,

they would save these little lives of these little boys.

When Hebrew boys were still being born after that,

Pharaoh changed his instructions.

Instead of killing them on the spot,

he said, throw all newborn Hebrew boys in the Nile River.

He wanted them to be drowned immediately upon birth.

And that's why Moses' mother did what she did.

Because when we look at this passage today,

Moses' mother, Jochebed, responded to that demand

and the way she responded.

When you really dissect it and look at it,

it's pretty powerful.

She responded, one, with a godly mother's love that protects.

Instead of just throwing them in the water,

she carefully prepared a papyrus basket

by coating it with tar to allow it to float.

Then she strategically placed it,

the basket in the reeds of the river,

securing it from floating away.

Why? Because that's the care and the protection of a mother.

That basket was a safe abode from water.

That basket was safe from animals.

Because why?

Because there was a watchful eye

watching that basket with that boy in those reeds.

He was strategically placed in those reeds

so that he would not float away.

He was strategically placed so Pharaoh's daughter,

who often came down to the river to bathe,

would find him and save him.

That's the watchful eye of a mother.

See, a godly mother seals off her child

from the whims of the world and of the devil.

And by training that child properly

and by allowing him or her to build friendships

with fellow Christians

by faithful church attendance and activity.

Please don't underestimate the strength that it is

when your children at an early age

find friends within the church,

begin to build relationships with those

who know how they ought to live.

Those who can strengthen one another.

It's a godly mother that sets rules and regulations

not to oppress a child, but to protect that child.

We live in a day when parenting is a lot more lax

than when I was a child.

I can't remember ever feeling lorded over

by my mother and dad.

I never sensed that.

I never felt like I was in a strict home.

I didn't get everything I wanted.

I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do.

But I knew when I was to be at home,

and I knew that when I rounded that bend on the way home,

that I'd see a light on beside my mother's bed

as she waited for me to get home.

And not only did I know that my mother and dad would be there

and would love and protect me,

but I knew when I did something stupid,

I'd have to face them when I got home.

You know?

It made a difference.

And I promise you, parents,

in the midst of the struggle of raising children,

it still does make a difference.

We live in a day

when what you do on Sunday is a harder choice

than it used to be.

I mean, there's a lot of options out there for you to do.

A lot of things take you away from church.

Sunday's one of the busiest days

with all kinds of activities that involve your childhood.

And there's pressure there to be a part of that.

And I well know that.

That pressure is tough

as you watch the trends of others.

That's why I think it's so important

that you're going to have to decide

what you and your family does on Sunday.

How big a priority is it to you?

Are you going to follow the trends of the world?

Are you going to follow what God tells us to do

according to his will and his word?

What's most important?

And listen,

church, when they bring those children to this church,

when they make those decisions

to bring up those children in love and admonition of the Lord

and to bring it under the umbrella of this church,

how important it is

that the volunteers are there

for Vacation Bible School.

Let me just say there's a sign up

in the lobby out there.

How important it is to be a part of that,

to have Children's Church

and Awana

and all those other things that take place

and any opportunities that we have

to nurture them,

to love on them,

to lead them to Christ.

How important it is

when you see those children

to speak to them,

to love on them,

to let them know

this is home.

This is where they want to be.

I grew up in a home

where I desired to go to church.

I was going to be there

whether I liked it or not,

but I wanted to be at church

and I enjoy being at church.

I've always been like that

because I was raised that way

to be taught that.

Whether it's a papyrus basket

lined with tar

or whether it's a nightstand light

that's on

or whether it's a bold decision

to faithfully follow Jesus,

a godly mother's love protects.

But not only that,

but a godly mother's love

also prepares

because if you gave your child

everything that he or she wanted,

you would absolutely ruin them.

Not only would you spoil him,

but you'd lead her down

a road of false expectations

that the world's just going to

hand it to him.

I promise you,

Moses didn't care

to be left in that river.

I bet that baby wasn't happy.

I bet they heard him crying

as he laid in that basket.

But Moses' mother knew

what he needed

and that was important.

It was more important

than what he wanted.

At some point,

you got to let your children go.

You know it's coming

and they may not understand that.

And when you know

that that's coming in the future,

you need to prepare them for that.

Do now,

if you have children in your home,

do now what you cannot do later.

Discipline your child

is never fun,

but it is necessary.

And so do it now

while you have the opportunity.

You don't hold them back

from getting the proper medical care

that they need

because they don't like it,

because they don't like going to the doctor

or they don't like shots

or the medicine tastes nasty.

No, no, no.

You take care of them.

You do that.

It's necessary.

And so you do it.

Saying no is not easy

or fun.

It's necessary.

So you do it.

Reading the Word of God

and praying together

is not easy.

And man, on some days

it feels absolutely impossible,

but do it now

while you have opportunity.

You may have a child

that will be an adult

soon.

So do it now.

They won't look to tomorrow.

They're worried about the now.

You look to tomorrow.

You prepare them for tomorrow.

Do it now.

Because a godly mother's love protects.

It prepares.

But not only that,

it also provides.

Jochebed had a strategic plan here

to nurse and to raise Moses.

When he was under the protection

of Pharaoh's home.

That is sophisticated

and daring.

And she did it

because she loved her child.

The nursing of a mother

is part of that provision of a child.

And godly parents know

that they must do that,

do without at times

because their child

will need to have something.

And it takes sacrifice

to spend time with your child.

But you've got to make that choice.

There's a lot of

babysitting substitutes

for children these days.

They're not all good.

You can turn on the TV

and you can text

and you can allow them

on the internet.

Give them a remote

and let them have at it

if you want to.

Give them an iPad

with no limits.

Or you can choose

to raise your kids right.

A parent has to decide that.

We provide what they need

while we have opportunity.

Now what do they need?

What do we provide?

We provide our attention.

We give them our attention.

Small child,

that may be a storybook at night.

As they get older,

it may be a kitchen lesson

along the way.

As they get even older,

it may be a listening ear.

Just hearing them out.

Seeing how you can help.

Tell you what else we give them.

We ought to give them some laughter.

You need a sense of humor.

I promise you.

If you don't laugh in this world,

you will cry.

So you might as well laugh.

And you ought to have a willingness

to be silly

and to see them laugh

and have fun with them.

They need our time.

We need to provide our time.

Do things with them.

We need to provide our creativity.

There's a lot to grab their attention.

It's worth the effort

to work hard

to entertain them ourselves.

You need to provide our resources.

Children are not secondary.

They're a priority in our lives.

And although Jochebed

had unique arrangements,

while she could,

she provided for her child.

I'm thankful that

God provided for her

and took care of her

and took care of him

and used him

to be that great deliverer

that he would use

as he grew older.

All because a godly mother

protected and prepared

and provided.

But not only that,

but lastly,

a godly mother's love promises.

There comes a time

when you have to give

your child to the Lord.

When you've done all that you can

in raising that child

in the love

and the admonition

of the Lord.

One of the most difficult parts

of this move

for my family

as we drew near to this day,

as I began to see God

begin to unravel

and open to me

what his will

was going to be for us.

As I began to see that,

one of the great difficult parts

of this was knowing

that Abby was going to stay

in Mississippi

and was going to start her career.

There's a great chance

that she was going to

raise a family

that far away.

I'm telling you,

I mean,

I,

we're a tight-knit family.

Abby commuted to school

and she will tell you

that that helped contribute

to her academic success,

which she had it,

thank God.

People often tell me,

and I get a little defensive

about it,

well, you're going home.

You're going back home.

I want to be clear

about something.

Home in my life

is what God's will is.

If I didn't do

what the Lord's will was,

I'd be not at home.

But as long as I follow

the will of the Lord,

I am at home,

thank God.

And I rest in that.

And so I entrust

my family to him

and I trust that

he'll take care of them.

Because when you follow

God's will,

hear me,

when you follow

God's will,

you trust him.

Well, you trust him

for a home,

by the way.

Are y'all praying

about that?

You need to be.

You trust him

for a home.

You trust him

with your kids.

And you walk

with the Lord.

You trust his heart

when you can't

see his hand.

And listen, friend,

Proverbs 22,

Proverbs 22:6

verse 6 says,

train up a child

in the way he should go

and when he's old,

he will not

depart from it.

Does that mean

there won't be

detours along the way?

There will be.

Does that mean

you have to be

perfect along the way?

Man, I hope not.

We're all in trouble

if that's the case.

And I'm going to tell you,

I want to be clear

about this.

It's not a guarantee

they won't go astray.

It's a proverb,

not a promise.

It is, however,

easier to steer

your course

when you've guided them

in the right direction.

When you've shown them

consistently

what is right.

how children,

how a child

is brought up

will make a world

of difference

in what she values

when she gets older.

So make a difference

while you can.

And once you bring

a child up,

there's little more

that you can do

so seize the day.

You've got to fully

trust the Lord

in that matter.

Was it easy

for Moses' mother?

By no means.

Was it a step

and a trait of faith?

You know it was.

Because the love

of a godly mother

is interesting.

The love of a godly mother

is not primarily

based on her love

for her child.

The love of a godly mother

is primarily based

on her love

for the Lord.

The greatest love

in that mother's life

is God.

And in order for you

to have the love

of a godly mother

for your child,

you've got to have

a more intense love

for the Lord.

And the greatest way

that you can love

your child

is through your love

for the Lord.

So if you love God

and that flows

into every avenue

of your life,

you are loving

your child

as much as you

possibly can.

And the greatest

expression of that love

that you can ever

show for your child

is a pattern

of love

for God.

Tell them

they're not

the top priority.

Tell them

God's the top priority

and you'll follow

His will

and His way

to love

your child

more

pursue God.

You know what's

going to happen

when you do?

You're going to grow,

your child's going

to witness you growing,

and your child's

going to grow

a love for God

just like Mama

showed him

or her.

Thank God

for godly mothers.

Let's pray together.

I realize

as we come together

today

that there may be

folks here

who have never

given their heart

to the Lord Jesus.

I don't want us

to ever have

an opportunity

where we don't invite

you to come

to the Lord Jesus.

and if He's spoken

to your heart

and life today,

you realize

that you've got sin

that separates you

from God

and you need God

to forgive you

and to save you

and to change you.

I want you to know

when we stand

and sing in just a moment,

we do that primarily

to give you the opportunity

to come to Christ.

When you walk this aisle,

we'll be happy

to guide you

in what that means.

Maybe God's

leading you

to make a private

decision public.

You've never done

that through baptism.

You've given your heart

and life to the Lord,

but you never followed

Him through baptism.

Maybe you have a desire

to remember this church,

want to be a part of it.

You come.

Let us guide you

in that process

and show you

what that means

here at Pickens First.

Heavenly Father,

I love you

and I thank you

for the love

that you have for us.

And I ask, dear God,

that whatever you choose

to do in our hearts

and lives today,

God,

will your Holy Spirit

just give us

the courage

and the wisdom

and the boldness

to be obedient

in the way

in which you lead us.

We love you dearly

and we thank you

for this time right now.

Oh God, I pray

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Stand up.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.