5.14.17 ~ Proverbs 31:10-31, “Loving Mothers, Faithful Wives, Prayerful Grandmothers, and All Women who Honor God, are to be Praised.”

Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: Mother’s Day

In Genesis 1-2, God spoke all creation into existence, but when it came to the first human, God personally formed him out of dirt and breathed life into him [Heb., Adam = man; similar to Adamah = ground, earth; Dam = blood so, man is nothing more than red dirt apart from God’s breath of life, that turned man into a living being].

At the end of each day of creation, it says, “God saw that it was good,” but, because there was no counterpart for Adam, on day six God said (2:18), “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” God put Adam to sleep (2:21-22), took some of his flesh and bone, made a woman, and brought her to Adam.

God’s purpose for humans (1:28), was to procreate, and to rule over all that God had made, as caretakers who were made in the image of God (1:26-27).

In Genesis 3:20 Adam names “Eve” [lit. living or life] as she would be the mother of all the living, the first child would come from her, bringing future generations.

In Genesis 4:1, with the birth of her son Cain, Eve the first mother, acknowledges God as the sovereign giver of all life. Genesis 5:1-2 says the image bearing likeness of God was passed on to all generations; but verse 3 says Seth was born in Adam’s likeness. according to his image.(imperfect, mortal, sinful, corrupt); whereas Adam, made in the image of God, before sin, was immortal, sinless, pure. I just thought that was interesting.

Just as immortality was God’s original plan for all mankind, motherhood was God’s original desire for all women. But the truth is about 10% of all women (6% of all men) are barren, physically incapable of having children; and the latest estimates suggest that 25% of the women in Britain and 20% of the women in America of childbearing age will never have a baby – because of “personal reasons.”

And yet, it was clearly God’s plan from the beginning for women to be mothers at home, raising children to know and honor God; in fact, as women get older, their own children having grown up and left home, older women are to train younger women to do the same.

1Timothy 5:9-10, “No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.”

Titus 2:3-5, “teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home [workers at home], to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

In my life, I have witnessed some good examples of Christian motherhood [my mother, my wife, my mother-in-law, my daughter]; I have also witnessed many bad examples [left unnamed].

The Bible records stories of many women, some good wives and mothers, some not so good, some very bad. Today I want to center-in on the characteristics of good wives and mothers.

Read Proverbs 31:10-27…
Verses 10-12… Excellent wives are loyal to and trusted by their husbands; they do exist but they are definitely not the norm; but then, neither are excellent husbands.
Verses 13-16… These women are diligent workers, gathering raw materials in order to make what is needed for the family and they are thrifty, bargain shoppers.

The excellent wife gets up while it is still dark in order to prepare food and provide for the family, as well as the workers who help her.

Such a woman is enterprising, clever, and capable, she invests what she is entrusted with, making the most of her resources in order to care for her family. Verses 17-19… She is sweet in spirit, strong in body, and she does not avoid hard work or difficult tasks. She is not only up before sunlight, but also working late into the night. The distaff and spindle are tools used to turn wool into thread, so that clothing can be made from it.
Verse 20… She also cares for the poor and needy.
Verses 21-22… In the highlands of Palestine it gets cold, she makes warm garments for her family, as well as coverings for her furniture and adornments for her home; but then, they didn’t have Costco, Fred Meyer’s or Walmart, and definitely no Amazon.com Prime.

Verse 23… Her excellence commends her husband before the community, where he serves in leadership.
Verse 24… She not only makes clothing for her family, her wares are sold in the village marketplace, allowing her to bring home income.

Verses 25-27… She loves God, serving Him honorably and diligently, speaking wisdom to her children, so they will learn reverence for and instruction from the Lord.

She is a faithful steward of all that the Lord gives her, using it to bring praise to God and blessings to her family.
Read verses 28-31… As a result of her service to God, she sets the very best example for all women, all wives, and especially for all mothers.

We celebrate Mother’s today, and rightly so, but I believe special recognition should go to all Proverbs 31 women, that they might be praised and honored by all those they have served through the years.

Godly women are like a beautiful bouquet of fresh, colorful and fragrant flowers; no wonder this year an estimated 2.5 billion dollars will be spent to buy flowers for mothers and wives on this holiday.

If your mother is still living and you haven’t done so, take time, to honor her or at least thank her birthing you.

If your mother is not alive, why not take time to thank the other women in your life (grandmothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, mother-in-law); women who have faithfully served as examples in this present generation trying to make a difference for Christ.

This is the first Mother’s Day since my own mother died, on December 20, 2016, and Tom Perry’s mother died on April 29 of this year. This is also my wife Nancy’s first Mother’s Day without our son Ben, who died on April 17 of this year, to whom she gave the best of motherhood for 29 years.

Mother’s Day has been set apart to acknowledge Mothers, and rightly so, as motherhood should be recognized and honored by all.

Without demeaning motherhood in any way, I would like to broaden that recognition to include all women who earnestly seek to bring honor and glory to

God, women who serve others with all that the Lord has given them, like the example of the excellent wife in Proverbs 31.

And so I say, “Thank You,” to all of you ladies (mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, mother-in-laws), I hope that your family, all of your loved ones, will take time to honor you today, especially, and I pray that God will continue to bless each one of you richly, today and forever, in Christ!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Pastor Mike <‘(((><