Today is a tough day for those of us that don’t have a mother. It reminds us of what we no longer have and for some what they never had. I can’t imagine a life of never knowing my mother. It is strange and foreign to me, but there are a lot of people who never knew their mother.
Proverbs 31 is referred to as the Ruby Wife Chapter in the Bible. To me it is the Ruby Mother chapter. That was my mother. She worked day and night to care for us. I couldn’t see it as a child, but after having my own children I could see it. My heart goes out to all mothers who put in the long hours every day to care for their entire family.
Today is a hard day. I want my mother to still be here, I want to be able to call her and see her. But I can’t. So what do I do? What do any of us do on this day? We think about women who have been important to our lives. For some, that’s all they have known.
In the Bible, when Jesus was dying on the cross, John 19:26-27 he appointed John, his disciple, to be the son of his mother, and Mary to be his mother. However in Mark 6:3 we see that Jesus had brothers and sisters. Why wouldn’t Jesus leave the care of his mother to one of his biological siblings?
In my opinion it is because of how special she was to him and to God, and how mothers should be to us all. In Mark 6:3 we see that Jesus did have brothers and sisters but they despised him. Jesus wanted someone to care for his mother that loved him and would HONOR her as the mother of the Messiah.
Mother’s Day isn’t about just honoring your mother one day out of the year, it is about honoring her for a lifetime and taking that honor for her seriously, as Christ did on the cross. It was so important to him, that just before he died, while in horrible pain, he remembered his mother, and made sure she was cared for the rest of her days. That’s a true Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day is more about honor than it is gifts. It’s an honor that we should carry all year long. And I can attest that I took my mother for granted and when she passed away suddenly, I felt the pain of not honoring her. It still haunts me. What I wouldn’t give to do it over again.
If we take nothing else from this difficult day, let it be the resolve to honor our mothers and mother figures, not just today, but for a lifetime. That enduring commitment, as Christ exemplified on the cross, is the true meaning of Mother’s Day. It is the greatest gift we can give to their memory and their legacy.
Sean.