Did you hear about the little boy who presented his mother with an itemized bill. He had carefully written down all the things he did around the house, and listed an amount after each thing. (By the prices you can tell this was a long time ago.)
Mowing the Grass $5.00
Making my bed all week $1.00
Going to the store $.50
Taking out the trash $1.00
Good grades on report card $5.00
And so on. The mother took the bill, looked at it, and didn’t say a word. The next morning the boy found the bill on his plate with the money he requested, but he noticed that his mother had written something on the back of it. He read down her list:
For the nine months I carried you No Charge
The nights I sat up with you No Charge
Doctoring you when you were sick No Charge
Praying for you No Charge
Tears I’ve cried for You No Charge
Toys, food, clothes No Charge
All my love for you No Charge
The little boy returned the money and the bill to his mother. When she looked at it, she saw He had written across his itemized list PAID IN FULL.
The love of a mother is wonderful, especially a Christian mother. They take care of all our needs, including the most important need of telling us of Jesus, teaching us to love and follow Him. Christian mothers give us a picture of God’s love for us, how freely He gives us everything, all the while we try to make demands of Him. The sacrifice He was willing to make for us was profound. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32). God’s love provides for our needs constantly, all at no charge to us.
I pay tribute to Christians mothers today, those who have made it their priority to live out their Christian calling in their homes. That is the kind of mother I was blessed with. I know there were times that she and I didn’t get along too well. There were times that I was sure I hated her, and she may have felt the same way about me! Isn’t it funny, though, that I can’t remember why? What I do remember is that she is the one who took care of me. She was the one who made sure I got out of bed and had breakfast before I went to school. She was the one who sat up late to make sure I got home safely. She knew the pain of childbearing did not stop with labor and delivery. She was the one who prayed with me and for me. I thank God for that.
A good mother deserves honor, whether it is the mother who bore you or the mother who bore your children. My wife was and is an incredible mother to our three girls, and we see the fruit of that in the way our girls are living their lives and the kind of mothers they are to their children.
A Christian mother will model the love that God has shown to us. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; [says the LORD] (Isaiah 66:13). That is what God has done: He has comforted us, loved us tenderly, given of Himself for our sakes. He saw us in our need, our corruption, the depravity of our sins, and He reached out to us. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. His death satisfied God’s demand that payment be made for sin. His rising assures you that death has been defeated. This has all been given to you at no charge, out of love.
Many of you first heard this good news from your mother, and she raised you to believe this, even as she did.
Happy Mother’s Day.
