I cannot tell how much I owe to the solemn words of my good mother. It was the custom, on Sunday evenings, while we were yet little children, for her to stay at home with us, and then we sat round the table, and read verse by verse, and she explained the Scripture to us. After that was done, then came the time of pleading; there was a little piece of Alleine’s Alarm, or of Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted, and this was read with pointed observations made to each of us as we sat round the table; and the question was asked, how long it would be before we would think about our state, how long before we would seek the Lord.
Then came a mother’s prayer, and some of the words of that prayer we shall never forget, even when our hair is grey. I remember, on one occasion, her praying thus: “Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ.” That thought of a mother’s bearing swift witness against me pierced my conscience, and stirred my heart.
Mothers Who Gave Us God’s Word
Countless characteristics of a godly mother could be celebrated this weekend, but for the Christian it may be captured best in 2 Timothy 3:14-15, where Paul writes to Timothy his protégé, and notes the eternal influence of Timothy’s mother.
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Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
What Paul has in mind with Timothy being acquainted with the Scriptures from childhood is made plain earlier in the letter: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” (2 Timothy 1:5).
According to Acts 16:1, Timothy’s father was Greek, but his mother was “a Jewish woman who was a believer.” It was Timothy’s mother Eunice and grandmother Lois who gave to him God’s priceless self-revelation in the Scriptures and, under God, made him “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” John Piper comments,
The apostle of Jesus Christ in this text bestows on motherhood and grandmotherhood a great honor. You have a calling that can become the long-remembered ground of faith, not just for your children—mark this—but for the untold numbers who will be affected by your children. And that’s in addition to all the other thousands of ripple effects of faith in your life. (“Honoring the Biblical Call of Motherhood”)
Whether Mother’s Day for you is bittersweet, or just plain sweet, here is perhaps the single most significant thing to celebrate in a Christian mother and aspire to be with what life we have left to live: bringing the Scriptures near to our children.
In this way, the charge of Hebrews 13:7 to recall our leaders may have this special application to us in those we celebrate Mother’s Day: Remember your mothers, especially those who spoke to you the word of God.
