Mothers’ Influence

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day;
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded at my will.
 
I came again when days were past,
 The form I gave it still it bore.
And as my fingers pressed it still,
I could change that form no more.
 
I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art,
A young child's soft and yielding heart.
 
I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon,
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it never more.
 

There is so much social controversy about the place and function of women.  Many think that the Bible is less than supportive of women in general and even abusive toward them.  However, an honest look at Scripture shows that God presents women in high honor and Jesus is the greatest liberator of women from social oppression.

The crowning act of creation was the creation of a woman.  He “saved the best for last” (Genesis 1:31).  Deborah was appointed as a judge over Israel (Judges 5).  The first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus were women in a time when they were not even allowed to testify in a court proceeding about what they had seen (Matthew 28).  And now for our purposes in this article, a woman was the first convert on the continent of Europe (Acts 16:11-15).

The account of Lydia’s conversion gives us these facts about her.  She was a business woman, a seller of purple.  She was a spiritually-mind woman who gathered every Sabbath for prayer and was a worshipper of God.  She was a leader in her household as they followed her in obedience to the things that Paul preached.

We know she was a wife, but we do not know if she was a mother.  However, as we honor mothers this Mothers’ Day, she is a positive example for all mothers and, through her actions, we can honor those we know to be mothers.

The late Ira North, preacher for the Madison Church of Christ in Nashville, TN, said, “As goes the Bible class, so goes the Church.”  I think we can also say that as go the parents, so goes the Church.  On Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day this year, I want us to notice the connection between a strong church and strong mothers and fathers.

— Mike Johnson