God's Gifts to His Chosen Bride, Part 5

A Mother’s Rescue
Recently I took a bike ride with my three youngest children. We saw two people helping a mother duck and her ten newborn duckings across a six-lane road. When they got to our side we said "we'll take it from here!" and we started down the sidewalk escorting these ducks the quarter mile or so to the nearby lake. When we got to the road nearby the lake we needed to help them across four lanes of traffic, not an easy task, but we managed, almost losing one to a passing roller-blader! When the ducks got to the lake the mother duck hopped onto a ledge above the water and dove in and her ducklings followed suit, making the four foot death dive into the water with rocks on either side of them. It looked like all was well until two ducks came swooping in and began attacking the mother duck. My girls and I couldn;t believe it. We swatted them away with a tree branch we found. All was well. Then another duck came flying in , attacking the mother. I took aim with a small piece of wood I found and pegged the attacker squarely on the side of the head and he flew away. The mother and her ducklings were now safe and we rode our bikes home.

That mother duck cared for her babies. She led, protected, provided for them…and she needed help; needed someone to defend her. Me and my girls, the piece of wood I pegged the attacker with, God’s providential care - all came into play. Moms lead, guide, protect their offspring. And what they need is support, protection and help. What every woman really wants is to be loved, honored and cherished in the most appropriate way. They need Jesus the King, and men captured by His grace and women willing to engage them in relationship. Men are called to complement their female counterparts, not rule over them harshly or disengage from them. The question for us today is: What will we do with what God has blessed us with? Will we abuse the gifts God has given, or will we cherish them and treat them with the utmost honor and respect?

Bringing it down to a Mother’s Day specific…it starts at home base, and it can start today with your mother and the other women in your life. Be willing to give of yourself unselfishly to those who live for the needs of others. What moms really want are the things money cannot buy. Things withheld from some moms - love and honor. Found only in Christ.

A relationship with Jesus might seem like only one way – God’s way – and in a way it is. He has all power. We adjust to Him. Yet in another sense – He adjusted to us in the most radical way at the cross. God wants you to see Jesus laid aside His privileges as God to become one of us, so that we might have life. He came not to be served but to serve and give His life a ransom for others. At the cross Jesus did what we could not so we could be and do what He intends.