Like a Mother's Love

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast or have no compassion on the child she has borne? She may forget, but I will not forget you! (Isaiah 49:15)

There's a joke going around about calling a mother a "birthing person." I'm not quite sure I get it, but it reminds me of how the Bible talks about God. God is usually called "Father," the head of every family in heaven and on earth (see Ephesians 3:14). But God isn't limited to male or female, and the Bible uses all sorts of names for God, picturing God as everything from a mother Hen to a sheltering Rock. So it shouldn't surprise us that the Bible sometimes compares God to a compassionate Mother. God isn't female--but God is, in a special sense, our birthing Person, the one who "has given us new birth into a living hope" (1 Petr 1:3).

The Bible sometimes compares God to a compassionate Mother.

We love our whole family, brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers, children and cousins and the friends who are like kin to us. And Scripture teaches us that, in loving them, we are also loving God.

So on Mother's Day, as we take time to think about some of the distinctive ways that our Moms have shown us love, we realize that they are also signs and symbols of God's Love. God gives life, nurtures, teaches, holds us close, feeds us spiritual milk, and is loves us in some of those ways that only a mother can! (God also, of course, loves us in ways that only a Father can--or a sister--or a brother--well, you get the idea!)

Join us this Sunday for Mother's Day; it's a good Sunday to visit our church's 10 a.m. service, where we take a little time to honor Moms (and in fact all of our women) while worshipping God. There will be a breakfast prepared and served by men, at 9 a.m., and everyone is welcome! And if you're reading this on Friday or Saturday, it's not too late to join us for our social gathering, 7 p.m. on Saturday (May 9) at the church, where we will have fun with Jigsaw Puzzles and snacks!

We're also continuing our regular Wednesday Bible Study, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., with a series on experiencing the closeness of God. And a week from Sunday, May 17, we'll have our regular monthly Youth Activity Night from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Jesus brings us all together. If you aren't already included in another fellowship of believers, I invite you to come and be included here!

--Jonathan