Mother’s Day

Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. –Exodus 2:9

I think one of the coolest things in the Bible is the fact that the real mother of Moses got paid to do the “dirty” part of being his mom. Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses in the little ark his mother had made, saw that he was crying, had compassion on him, and adopted him. She then proceeded to “hire” Moses’ mother to nurse him. Moses had two mothers. One mother set him up for destruction. The other set him up for success. Let’s see how!

I don’t really want to bad mouth Moses’ Egyptian mother, after all, she did save his life. Just understand that the culture that she lived in was much like ours in America right now. They had the Israelites working as slaves and did NO work! I’m sure every Egyptian that grew up in that society felt entitled to everything. They basically got to live off of the fruits of someone else’s labor and live their whole lives in “retirement.” Because of this, I just want you to understand that Pharaoh’s daughter loved Moses in the best way she knew how. There’s no way she could have loved him sacrificially because she had never seen sacrificial love. She simply did all the “fun” stuff with Moses. She had the money to take him places, buy him anything he wanted or needed, and basically spoil him. Unfortunately for her, she “hired” out what would be considered “the hard stuff.”

Now, Moses’ Israelite mother, Jochebed, had a different relationship with him. She was a slave, so she couldn’t do the “fun” stuff. She got to nurse him, change his dirty diapers, bathe him, and probably rock him to sleep at night when Pharaoh‘s daughter was too tired and didn‘t feel like messing with him. Jochebed loved Moses in a different and opposite extreme way, she met all of his needs, and genuinely cared for him.

Isn’t this a crazy picture of mothers in today’s society…especially in America? We have so many mothers, especially young ones, who have babies and want to be like the Egyptian mother. They want to take it to school and show off how cute he or she is. They want to push the stroller on the nice weather days. They want to make the baby laugh and have a good time with him or her when it is convenient. However, when it comes Friday and Saturday night and it is time to party and do the things they did to get pregnant in the first place, they want someone else to be taking care of the baby. They want someone else to change the “poopie” diapers and clean the spit-up. They want someone else to stay up all night when the baby is whiny from a 102 temperature. This is precisely why we have an overwhelming percentage of our grandparents becoming parents. When the grandparents should be getting to have all the fun and spoil their grandchildren, they are having to be the primary caregiver because of their irresponsible children who have no education, no job, and are entitled to everything. Okay, so I’m sorry for the soap box…well, not really.

Jochebed only had a few years with her son. She only had a few years to put the eternal God in his heart and mind. I imagine that every time she rocked him to sleep she sang praises to God. She sang catchy melodies to plant the Almighty God in Him. She constantly uplifted the name of the Lord in front of him. And you know what? It worked! Moses always knew about God and when he was older he followed that God and became the author of the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Why? Because of his mother, who got paid to do the hard parts of being a mother. How cool is it that God made the Egyptians finance their own destruction?

When I think about my own mom, she was the complete package. I can remember lots of fun times. I can also remember times when she disciplined my lazy, sorry butt. I can remember having things given to me, and I can remember things being taken away. But, looking back, I can remember that every single Sunday, she had me in church. I remember going to this FCA camp as a teenager and receiving a Bible. Even though I didn’t care anything about it then, my mom loved that Bible. I saw her read it a LOT! It is still her favorite Bible until this day. I can honestly say that it is because of her that my dad and I eventually learned how to follow the Lord. It is because of her that my dad and I will spend eternity in Heaven with her…I love you Mama!

The only advice that I know to give to mothers who might be reading this right now is this: Love God and serve Him with everything you are. Make sure that the Lord is first place in your life and that you are naturally singing praise songs and old hymns around the house. Make sure you have the joy of the Lord in your heart. Make sure that you are praying out loud to Him. Make sure that you are reading His Words and putting them into practice. Make sure that going to church isn’t optional…it’s just what you do every week. I promise…your children are picking up more than you could ever imagine.

The only thing you can give your children that has eternal value…is Him.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Adam