Thursday, May 5, 2011

May 6, 2011

”and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”   II Timothy 3:15

I recently saw an old episode of Superman from back in the '60's. You know, the George Reeves, black and white version of the Man of Steel. Wow! It sure looked different now than it did when I was a young kid! TV and special effects have come a l-o-o-o-o-n-g way since then! I'm glad.

Superman was a man on a mission to protect "truth, justice, and the American way!" That works for me!

My favorite scene from all the great episodes that captivated me as a mere mortal, was the one where Superman takes a lump of coal in his bare hand and squeezes it between his super human palms until it becomes a large and perfect diamond! Nice!

Watch me make a connection between a super hero and motherhood. Actually, there are probably several comparisons, but the one I want to feature is the fact that both are on a mission - a mission to shape coal into diamonds.

In this portion of Scripture, Paul is writing to a young preacher named Timothy. This young man was a diamond in the rough who became polished by serving with Paul and being discipled by him. But, he got to be a diamond because of the influence of a mother on a mission, a woman named Eunice. Eunice had been shaped by another mother on a mission, her mother and Timothy's grandmother, Lois.

To shape a lump of coal into a diamond takes some pressure. In this case, it is the pressure of priorities. Over the several days I am going to focus on three priorities that mothers on a mission use to shape their children from lumps of coal into valuable gems.

The first one mentioned here is salvation. Mothers on a mission make the salvation of their children the number one priority! It is job one!

How do mothers on a mission do that?

They do that by introducing them to the original Super Hero - Jesus Christ. If you want to lead your child to salvation introduce him to the Savior! There is no greater Super Hero than Him! Who else could defeat sin and death? Who else has power over sin? Who else has power to give eternal life? Who else IS eternal life? Who else was born of a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit so that He came into the world without sin? Who else took on the villain, Satan, face to face and resisted temptation? Who else raised people from the dead and healed cripples, lepers, and restored sight to the blind? Who else calmed a storm, walked on water and fed thousands with a simple lunch?

Mothers on a mission make sure their children get to know Him. Mothers on a mission make sure their child will knows Who Jesus is. Mothers on a mission make sure their child knows what Jesus did. Mothers on a mission make sure their child knows what Jesus can do. And, mothers on a mission do everything in their power to make sure their child knows Jesus as his Savior!

I am the product of a mother on a mission. She is still on the mission. She is still doing everything in her power to make sure this lump of coal get shaped into a diamond - ever a rough one.

Bless you, Mom, for having great priorities. Thanks for staying on mission and keeping the pressure on. Thanks for making sure I got to know Jesus as my Super Hero! You're my other hero!