Mom, You Forgot!
Rise
and Shine for Jesus! \O/
By
Pam Iannello (my late mother)
A
ministry of New Beginnings Baptist Church @ www.nbbconline.com
Isaiah
49:15-16 (KJV)
Can
a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget
thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy
walls are continually before me.
While
reading these two verses, one can't help but be impressed with the
images God uses to illustrate the depth of His love. As mothers, we
ought to be highly challenged to compare our mother love to that of
the Lord's care and concern for His children. Can we, who carried a
tiny life within our womb, actually forget that precious child we
bore? The Bible says yes! Mothers are capable of forgetting...
"Her
sucking child" is an image scripture uses that forces us to see
our children in the proper light. A sucking child draws nourishment
from its mother. To suck is to absorb; to drink in; to receive and
retain. When is the last time that you sat down and thought about
what your child was absorbing while dwelling by your side? What are
your little ones drinking in; receiving and retaining from the
beloved mother they are so dependent upon? Have you been carelessly
inattentive to the priority of their heart's nourishment? Could it be
as you carry out your daily duties that you have lost sight of your
children somehow? Allow me to share with you several ways mothers
are guilty of forgetting their children, which I have not only
observed, but also even been guilty of myself…
1)
Not diligently praying for them with true awareness of their
spiritual condition ( Job 1:5, Pr. 27:23)
2)
Not fearfully tending to our own Christian example before them (Titus
2:1-5, Ezekiel 16:44)
3)
Not faithfully teaching them to love and obey God's Word (Deut.11:19)
4)
Not making consistent church attendance a top priority (Heb. 10:25)
5)
Not disciplining them whenever necessary (Pr. 19:18, Pr. 23:13, Pr.
22:15, Pr. 29:15 & 17))
6)
Not soberly heeding their influences {friends, TV, computer, books,
music} (Pr. 13:20)
Perhaps
you have forgotten your children in some of these same ways. In
reflecting upon the above list, has your consideration declined
toward the son or daughter of your womb? Having compassion is to
have a tender heart; to be easily moved by the distresses,
sufferings, wants and infirmities of another. It is love mixed with
sorrow; love attending needs. How involved are you really in the life
of your children? Should the nourishment that goes into our
children's lives become less of a priority simply because they travel
from womb to world?? In either location, they are still a sucking
child, still weak and growing and still absorbing from their mother.
Yes, mothers have forgotten their children in many different ways,
yet God will never forget us!
Psalm
27:10 (KJV)
When
my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
Hebrews
13:5b (KJV)
…for
he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
The
Lord tells us in our main text today that He has graven each of us
upon the palm of His hands. What a precious image of love this
affords us! Ladies, as God's children, we are safe and secure,
lovingly embedded deep into the inner part of God's hands. He watches
over us with the deepest concern! Yet, what security, if any, do we
offer our own children? Are they so imprinted in our hearts and
minds that we might not overlook any area of their feeble lives?
Mother, our heavenly Father would mark us with the same character
traits of His Divine nature - that of consistent
parental
love and discipline and ever
mindful
care. A forgetful mother should use the Word of God to strengthen
her maternal memory!
Psalm
113:9 (KJV)
He
maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of
children. Praise ye the Lord.
Ladies,
the power of God is unlimited. Only He can take a barren woman, a
woman hollow of concern for children, and fill her heart to the top
with Divine mother love! Do you need help today in becoming less of
an unfruitful, neglectful mother and more of one who is pregnant with
concern for her children's welfare? Are you grieved over the lack of
time you have devoted to praying for each of your children? Have you
been unconcerned or indifferent about your testimony as a Christian
before your little ones? Have you slacked off in tending closely to
the various influences that come into their lives? Have you dropped
the ball when it comes to consistent church attendance? What
impression have you given them of the truth as the Bible teaches it?
In the daily rush, have you forgotten more than once or twice to
share an appropriate portion of the Word of God with your offspring?
Have you neglected to apply Biblical discipline as it becomes
necessary, thereby forgetting to tend to their character as well as
their souls? Our
children greatly suffer when mother forgets what is right!
Deut.
4:9 (KJV)
Only
take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget
the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy
heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy
sons' sons;
Mother,
let the Word of God bring these priorities to your
remembrance again! Daily, we must allow the scriptures to impress or
apply pressure to our hearts and minds and affix deep and lasting
concern for our children's souls upon us. Are you yielding to the
mark of God as a parent, or resisting the indentations of godliness?
Do you bear the imprint of God in your mothering techniques?
John
19:25 (KJV)
Now
there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother...
At
the lowest moment in the Savior's life, when He bore the sins of the
world and freely gave up His life for our benefit, there was Jesus' earthly mother, standing by the cross. Mary was not off "doing
her own thing" like many mothers today… From babyhood to
grave, she did not fail to take into account the son of her womb.
Never did Mary undermine God’s Word or will as a mother; thus, she
was a help
to the cause of Christ, not a hindrance.
What an encouragement it must have been for Jesus to have a strong
mother close by at Calvary – a woman wholeheartedly devoted to God
and His purposes! Yes, mother was there; silent, yet fully aware of
what her child was facing; there to nourish his suffering soul and
body with her godly presence, her prayers, and
her faith in the Lord
- the One who also remembered us in our low estate. Ladies, a
mother's love stands next to the love of God. Have you forgotten
where your place is?
God
Bless,
Pam
Isaiah
60:1&2
Copyright 2001 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised
2006
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