The Treasures of A Mother's Heart

 

By Adam Faughn     One of my favorite Biblical phrases to ponder around this time of year comes from a description of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the latter part of Luke 2, we read the account of Jesus staying behind in Jerusalem and His family frantically searching for him. When He is finally found, He is in the temple, interacting with the religious leaders of His day.     The well-known ending of that account is a text that is sometimes used to encourage young people to be like Jesus in their growing-up years, as we are told that He "increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52).     It is something found just before that, though, that often comes to my mind this time of year, as we are told that Mary "treasured up all these things in her heart" (v.51). What a beautiful way to express the love of a mother and how Mary just held on to all of these moments, even if she could not have fully understood what each one of them meant in full.     Today, our culture takes some time to think about mothers. While this day is not easy for everyone, it is still a good thing to do as a society because mothers have an impact on our society that is basically impossible to measure. Certainly, as people of God, we know that those mothers who follow the Bible and seek to influence their children for the Lord are of tremendous importance. They are not only helping to shape the future of a community, but they are impacting eternity.     Go back to that phrase about Mary, though. To treasure things in her heart; what a beautiful way to word this. I am not really sure if anyone but a mother can understand that wording. As a dad, I know there are memories and experiences that my heart holds, but it just seems that mothers are able to do that at a level no one else can understand.     Knowing that, it reminds those of us who still have our mothers with us that we should be trying to live in such a way that the "treasures" of the hearts of our mother are pleasant. They should be able to know that we are trying to show them how our lives honor Christ and seek to reflect His glory in the world. They should treasure, not that we sin, but that we have penitent hearts that strive to do better each day.     And, of course, for those who are mothers, I pray that the treasures of your heart are a great comfort to you. When you think of your children, I hope you are able to focus on times when they did their best to follow Christ. Do you see pictures in your mind of them reading their Bible or singing during a worship service? I hope you can picture them serving others to God's glory or trying to teach a friend the Gospel.     When Mary treasured up what was going on in e young life of Jesus, she thought of His actions, His words, His dedication to the Father, and His desire to be in the Scriptures. On this Mother's Day, I pray that these are the types of things that all of our godly mothers can picture when they reach into the treasures of their hearts and think of their children.

- Adam Faughn preaches for the Central Church of Christ in Paducah KY. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.centralchurchofchrist.org Visit the Faughn Family blog, A Legacy of Faith