Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Motherhood: Participation in the Divine Plan
“So
now I give him to the Lord.
For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.”
A mother is a
significant person in one’s life. Especially as we look into today’s
meditation, we can see through Hannah’s life that
throughout the struggles she was going through by not being able to have
children, she was very depressed. Hannah was eager to become a
mother. She prayed to the Lord with tears and she vowed that she would
dedicate her child to Him. As a result, God blessed her with a child.
Hannah was a
person who submits to the will of God. Since her child Samuel was born,
she waited till he was weaned and dedicated him to the service of God.
Samuel grew humility and obedience. Through that, God uplifted Samuel to
be a judge and a prophet to Israel with a privilege of being able to appoint
two kings of Israel: Saul and David.
Hannah was a
person who models the meaning of a dedicated mother. She was a woman of
prayer. She brought her concerns to the Lord and she put God first before
anything. She was a woman of love, she loved all that she had and that
was seen when she was eager to become a mother, and be able to express motherly
love. She was a selfless woman. She made sure that she fulfilled
her vow to dedicate her son to the Lord, and by doing so, her son was a
blessing to his caregiver and to his mentor Eli. He was also a blessing
to the people of Israel and ultimately he was a blessing to God.
Understanding
the life of Hannah, we can easily see the significance of a God fearing
mother. Our mothers are very special to us. We can look back and
remember the many sacrifices that our mothers had made for us, we can
understand that a mother is a woman who goes through pain while giving birth
and the next second filled with joy when she holds her young for the first
time. A mother is a woman who thinks of her child as her whole
world. A mother is one who sacrifices her time, money and strength to
direct her young to the right direction. A mother is the reason we are
who we are today. As Hannah dedicates her child Samuel to God, let us
also be thankful for the god-centered and sacrificial love and care a mother
gives us.
Prayer: Gracious Father, we thank you for our
mothers. Help us Lord to show others the love our mothers shows us, In
Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Thought for the Day: “A mother's love is patient and
forgiving when all others are forsaking, it never fails or falters, even though
the heart is breaking.” -Helen Rice
Jess M. George, Mar
Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam