The Treasure and the Thief

 

One night recently, I was lying awake. For some reason, sleep would not come. When I find myself with difficulty falling asleep, I often use that time to talk to God and pray for others, which is what I did this night. 

First of all, I felt overwhelmed and amazed by all the good ideas God gave me during that time! I had to get out of bed and go in the other room to write a list of all the ideas He gave me because they were good and I didn't want to forget them by the morning! He gave me ideas about how to help each of my children with a different aspect of school that was troubling them (or me for them).

At one point (after returning to bed), as I was praying for different people, I prayed for my children. I prayed that the Lord would protect them as they were sleeping. I prayed that He would keep "the thief" far from them. That was when God led me to this message.

My children are a treasure given to me by my Master to take care of until He returns. 

Jesus told a parable that is recorded in Matthew 25:14-30 about a master going away and entrusting some of his money to three servants. Two servants wisely invested the money and increased what their master had left with them. One servant buried the money and did nothing with it. He didn't even put it in a bank to gain interest. A similar parable is recorded in Luke 19:11-27. 

How do I want Jesus to find the treasure with which he entrusted me? 

I want Him to find that my children know Him, love Him, and follow hard after His will. I want Him to find them working to bring others into His kingdom and family, showing His love and compassion to others. I want Him to find them doing the right thing all the time, no matter what, because they want to please Him, and not just other humans. I want Him to find them full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. May they have clean hands and pure hearts before their God and King!

How can I invest in my treasure? 

Will I let "life" just take its course and shape them however it may - or will I choose to invest in the treasure so my Master may find more belonging to Him when He returns than when He went away? Letting the world shape them without my influence would be synonymous to squandering my wealth. I can invest by refusing to shy away from doing the hard work of discipline. I can work to train my children to be not only good, moral people who are honest, kind, compassionate, generous, etc., but I can also teach them to know Jesus - to know about His character, to read their Bibles, to pray, to listen for His direction, and to obey. I can teach them how to love God and to love people. In so doing, my investment may have a positive effect on not only my children but also their friends, their friends' families, their future coworkers, their future spouses. I may never know how many lives are affected by my investment in the two treasures I have, but God will know. He will know not only the number of lives affected, but also my efforts with regard to His treasure.

I remember when my babies were born - especially the first one. I remember rocking them at night, thanking God for entrusting me with them. I prayed that I would do a good job and that He would be pleased with the outcome. I recognized that they are ultimately His and only "on loan" to me for whatever time He has set. I felt honored to be entrusted with such treasure!

What if you don't have children? 

You can still invest in others - at any age! When in high school, I believed that my calling would be to raise children to love the Lord. I worked toward that calling for a few years before I even had any children of my own. I still invest in children other than my own two children - nieces and nephews, friends' children (who often feel like nieces and nephews to me), speech-language therapy clients, children at church, children in Vacation Bible School, etc. I invest in my church family, whether they are younger than me, my age, or older. I love being to talk to others about how God is working in our lives. You can do this, too! 

Encourage someone today to grow in their relationship with Jesus!

What about you?

What is your treasure? Even if you don't have children of your own, in whom can you invest for the kingdom of God? For whom will He speak to you and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant?"

1 Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Matthew 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. [This is Jesus speaking.]

Matthew 24:43 But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

- I recommend reading the rest of this passage (Matthew 24:36-51) to get the whole context. It's definitely worth it. If you don't have a paper Bible handy, check out the Bible app by YouVersion, or biblehub.com.

Mother's Day

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. We planned to visit my mother and my husband's mother some today, but our plans changes due to a sick child. I started thinking about what many women want for Mother's Day. I would think many responses would be along the lines of: a day to just rest, to take a nap, breakfast in bed, for the rest of the family to do fix dinner/do the chores, time to read a book in peace, a girls' afternoon, etc. Nothing that costs much, just some rest.

Then, I thought about me personally. Yes, all those above ideas sound nice. I think I always want to spend a fun, yet quieter day with my family, possibly a little break to read a book and/or nap in the hammock, but I'm really not too picky. Quieter day, meaning fewer chores and things that "have" to get done, fewer responsibilities than just loving on and being loved by my family.

So, this year we have a sick child. Last year, I don't remember what happened for sure, but I seem to remember that it was not a break from motherly responsibilities. Maybe it was a sick kid; maybe it was tough behavior to discipline; I just don't remember, but it doesn't matter.

You know, I think I actually prefer it this way, though. What better to do on Mother's Day than the very thing that makes me a mother, the very reasons that Mother's Day is celebrated? I love caring for my husband and children. I'm glad to know that I am able to fix dinner, wash dishes, put things away, bathing kids, teach them, etc. I think it is a blessing and a reminder of my purpose with my family.

Here are some Bible verses that I found related to this:

• Proverbs 31:27-28 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 
• Psalm 127:3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
• Proverbs 17:6 Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. 
• Titus 2:4-5 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. 
• Deuteronomy 6:5-9 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 
• Deuteronomy 11:18-21 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. 
• Proverbs 22:16 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

I don't take my responsibilities as a mother lightly. I believe God has spoken to me clearly about what he wants me to do in regards to raising my children - through the Bible and through some mentors.

Here is a good website article I found this morning while thinking about this topic: www.gotquestions.org/mothers_Christian.html. I love that it breaks down into seven commands for Christian mothers - availability, involvement, teaching, training, discipline, nurture, modeling with integrity.

Here are a couple articles by Rachel Jankovic that a dear friend shared with me yesterday.
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-application 

 I just looked a little more and here is one that really touches my heart and makes me say "Yes, that's me! That's what I'm doing!"

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-as-a-mission-field

And, to close, here are two more verses about what I want for my children:

• Proverbs 23:15-16 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
• 3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow to all the mothers out there. I pray that you are aware of many of your blessings and that those around you are aware of blessings you bring to their lives as well. May you have joy.