Honour thy Mother.

[Rev.Anthony Ray Smith]

"Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)."

Honour; To reverence; to manifest the highest veneration for, in words and actions; to entertain the most exalted thoughts of; to adore.

My mother recently died of heart disease, which runs in our family. My grand parents had it, my dad, my uncle, my mother and finally myself. Her death came at a time when she and I were very close to one another. Being blessed by the Lord, as with the time of my dads death, I was there at the time she departed this world to be with the Lord, and again, as with my dads death, I praised the Lord for His Excellent Greatness and mercy. We held a special bond that was felt by all that were around us. My brothers and sister were also close to our mother but as things go, many things separated my other brothers from what a good relationship should have been. They forgot the first commandment with promise, "Honour thy father and mother;."

Even though my mother and I were close, she had a more special closeness to my sister. This was a love bond that lasted all the way to our mothers last breath.

I honour my sister and pray blessings upon her, for her diligence in protecting and nurturing our mother, as she became unable to care for herself. It is time we all honour our brothers and sisters that honour our parents in such a manner. Many today shove their elders in nursing homes and send them to places that their parents wish not to be, because they are too busy to be bothered with the ones that nurtured them in their time of need. Many forget that when they were naked, their mother and father clothed them, when they were hungry, they fed them, when they were in need, they assisted them, when it was dark, they provided light, when they were ignorant, they provided knowledge, when they were sick, they cared for them.

Who was this woman that we all called mother? The Bible puts it this way.

"And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions."

"Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters."

The many waters of my mother were in fact, unconditional love for her children, weather they were rich, poor, healthy or ill, she was always a mother. My mother was like a vine in my blood that was connected to a fountain of cool water, always there, always nourishing, always encouraging.

Even in her elder years, she was always concerned with my well being, being the youngest of all her children. Being the youngest in the family doesn't give one a special recognition of such, but it lends itself to the fact that, we are the last to leave home and the last to be informed of changes in attitude of the family unit. I spent many years away from my mother, first in the military and lastly, looking for work in other city's to be able to raise my own children. But threw all the years of separation, my mother was still my mother, always on my mind and within my heart.

As it is written; "As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand."

"The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."

My mother and I talked often of such things. We talked of how family's were no longer close to one another. It broke her heart to know that many family's were falling apart in these times of trouble and dispare. She told me of the times in her youth when family's came together, even in the times of the great depression, feeding one another with hope instead of dispare, a time of family unity against all that would harm them, a family that would stay together in the hardest of times. We talked of how this world has forgotten God and has turned into a faithless generation.

We talked each day of the mercy's of God, how He had saved her from death when I was born, and from the pain of sin. We talked of how God had fed, clothed, sheltered and protected our family.

But we seen a generation today that has forgotten the very foundation of their lives, and as the Bible puts it, "There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. " I see a generation today that has lost respect for their mother and father, a generation that ask always for more and gives less, a wicked and perverse generation that has forgotten God, His Christ and their parents that love them dearly. I see a generation today that desires the very foundation of family and marriage to be redefined, a removal of father and mother to be replaced by same sex unions that produce no more children, no more mothers and fathers, no more family's based upon sound doctrine, no basses upon sound judgment, a generation that is cursing both mother and father. A generation that kills the genealogy of their parents, for sexual pleasures which is short lived, wherefore they close their own lives in obscurity leaving no heirs, denying the will of God and turning the truth into a lie. As it is written; For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.

I sorely miss my mother.

It has been difficult for me not to be able to see her or even call her daily as I use to. But the Lord again has been merciful toward me in my time of hurt. He has shown me things from His word that have encouraged me to carry on. If I hold on to my faith and believe in the promises that the Lord has given all, I shall once again see my mother on the streets of gold, ever to be with the Lord.

ars

Webster,TSK.

Eph 6:2 Eze 19:2 Eze 19:10 Pro 30:11 Pro 30:17 Ecc 5:15 Mic 7:6