Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Far More Precious Than Jewels (Proverbs 31:10-31)
19 Plays18 days ago
Sunday Message recorded 10 May 2026
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Opening Prayer for Mothers
00:00:06
Speaker
Would you join me in prayer and let's pray over these mothers. Lord, thank you so much for the gift of motherhood and for mothers. Each mother in this room is so valuable and so so special. We thank you for uniquely crafting and creating each one of these mothers that's here today and those who are listening by live stream in one of the other rooms or those who are in our community who may be watching over live stream on their computer or TV or something and We just thank you for them.
Joys and Challenges of Motherhood
00:00:37
Speaker
I pray that Lord, you would encourage them. I do believe that it's it's hard sometimes for mothers. They have many joys, but at the same time, sometimes they face many challenges.
00:00:48
Speaker
And so if some are facing a challenge, I pray you'd encourage them. I pray that today's message would he encourage them. It would help them to realize just how valuable and how precious that they really are.
00:01:00
Speaker
So thank you for these mothers. Give them a special blessing, not only today, on Mother's Day, but every day. May they be aware of your presence. May they know that you're pleased with the way that they love their husbands, the way that they love their family.
00:01:16
Speaker
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Biblical Command to Honor Mothers
00:01:19
Speaker
Well, I want you to open with me to Proverbs 31, verses 10 through
00:01:26
Speaker
you know the Bible indicates that honoring one's mother is actually a command. So we're trying to line up with Scripture in what we're doing here today. Ephesians 6, verses 2 and 3, goes on to say that the command to honor your father and your mother, it's actually the first commandment with a promise.
00:01:47
Speaker
But what is it promising? Well, if you read on in Ephesians 6 and go down to verse 3, the promise is this, that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.
00:02:01
Speaker
I mean, just think about all that your mom has done and is doing for you constantly.
Economic Value of Stay-at-Home Parents
00:02:08
Speaker
You know, if you think about it, mothers are often the nanny. They're the tutor.
00:02:12
Speaker
They're the chauffeur. They're the chef. They're the house cleaner. They're the counselor. They take care of laundry services. They oversee multiple schedules for the whole family. They pay bills. They shop. They coach.
00:02:24
Speaker
It just goes on and on. It's no wonder that some organizations out there like Investopedia published an article entitled, How Much Is a Stay-at-Home Parent Worth?
00:02:35
Speaker
Well, this was in 2025. They said, for all that a mother does, they calculate she should be paid
00:02:44
Speaker
$205,000 per
Mothers Compared to Precious Jewels
00:02:45
Speaker
year. So, you know, you may want to mention to your husband, you need a raise. I don't know. But anyway, because most of them work 14 hours a day. But I love what this passage says, because this passage says it the true way it should be said, that she is far more precious than jewels, far more precious than rubies.
00:03:08
Speaker
You know, back in July of 2022, massive ruby was discovered in Mozambique. It weighed 101 carats.
00:03:18
Speaker
The ruby was later cut and polished in Bangkok, thailine Thailand. And when it came out, it looked great, but it weighed 55.22 carats. And I'm wondering, okay, where'd the other 45 carats go? I don't know. But anyway, it's called the Estrella de Fura.
00:03:34
Speaker
It means Star of Fura. its so It was sold at Sotheby's of New York for $34.8 million. and i just think to myself wow And yet we have before us here the truth of God's word saying to us that a mother is worth far more than all the rubies that you could count.
Virtues of a Noble Wife and Mother
00:03:59
Speaker
And so I'm thinking, wow, you know, ah here's something truly amazing that God says that a virtuous wife and mother is far more precious than the diamonds and the rubies.
00:04:11
Speaker
You know, the ESV, the HCSB and the NASB uses the word jewels. So that's what my translation and ESV will say today. But I just wanted to make you aware that the King James, the New King James, the NIV, the NLT, the ASV uses the word rubies.
00:04:29
Speaker
If you have the message translation of the Bible, the the message uses the word diamonds. But what they're trying to say to us, what God is trying to say to us through his word is that every mother in this room, you are more precious than any treasurer that anyone could collect.
00:04:47
Speaker
That's exactly what God says. You're priceless. And so Proverbs 31 verses 10 through 31 will tell us why, why is mom so precious and so priceless? I think you already know that I want, as we listen to this passage, the Bible says that the word of God is like A mirror.
00:05:08
Speaker
And so God's going to hold up a mirror before us today. And I want you to listen to what he says. Would you stand in honor of God's word and look and see if you see your mom's face in this passage of scripture.
00:05:22
Speaker
An excellent wife, who can find? She's far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her and he will have no lack of gains.
00:05:35
Speaker
She does him good and not harm all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands.
00:05:47
Speaker
She is like the ships of the merchant. She brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.
00:06:00
Speaker
She considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
00:06:13
Speaker
She perceives that her mer merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the staff and her hands hold the spindle.
00:06:25
Speaker
She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She's not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
00:06:38
Speaker
She makes bed coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates. When he sits among the elders of the land, she makes linen garments and sells them.
00:06:52
Speaker
She delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
00:07:07
Speaker
She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also and he praises her.
00:07:21
Speaker
many Many women have done excellently, but you surpassed them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
00:07:33
Speaker
Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates. Father, thank you for this passage of scripture that clarifies for us what you would love for motherhood to be about, what you intended motherhood to be about.
00:07:48
Speaker
So help us, oh Lord, to move in these directions. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you so much. You may be seated.
Supportive Role and Sacrifices of Mothers
00:08:00
Speaker
You know, experts claim the value of a ruby is determined by the four C's. Perhaps you know those. The color of the ruby, the clarity of the ruby, the cut of the ruby, and the carrot of the ruby.
00:08:14
Speaker
Similarly, I would say that an excellent mother's value, if properly assessed and appraised, not by her salary, but by the passages of six S's that are found in this passage.
00:08:28
Speaker
So I want to... Direct your attention back to the Word of God. And let's see, why is your wife, why is your mother so valuable today? I'll give you six reasons why she's valuable.
00:08:41
Speaker
The first place that we should say she certainly is valuable because our sense, her support. You see, the value of her support to her husband is one just one thing that makes her valuable. We see that in verses 10 through 12. Do you remember back when God created man today?
00:08:59
Speaker
When God created woman. you remember that God's purpose for the precious gift of a wife is is described in these words, Genesis 2, 18. It's not good that the man should be alone.
00:09:14
Speaker
I will make him ah helper, fit for him. You see, if you look at this verse, it says that she's a gift. He says, who can find this excellent wife?
00:09:28
Speaker
Only God could bring her to you. And so if you have an excellent wife, one thing you could say is, God, thank you. Thank you for the wife that you have blessed me with. You know, Proverbs 18.22 says that whenever God gives us a good wife, an excellent wife, a virtuous wife, a noble wife, we should say, you know what? This is nothing more than the grace of God, the favor from God. That's what it says in Proverbs 18.22. In Proverbs 19.14 says,
00:09:55
Speaker
in proverbs nineteen fourteen It says that a prudent wife, one who lives prudently, well, she is from the Lord, is what it says in Proverbs 19, 14. So it's no wonder that the answer to the question, you know, an excellent wife, who can find?
00:10:12
Speaker
God can find her and God can bring her to you. For any of our men who are still single, for any of you young boys, you should be praying now, God, send me the wife that you want me to have.
00:10:24
Speaker
You know, when I look at these verses 10, 11, and 12, I thought, what is it that she's doing for her husband? Well, one thing you can definitely see is she's a gift from the Lord, like I said, but you also see verse 11.
00:10:39
Speaker
She helps him to gain in the Lord. it says that he will have no lack of gain. Why will he have no lack of gain? Because his wife is supporting, because his wife is standing by him, because his wife is encouraging him.
00:10:54
Speaker
His wife is saying, i will pray for you today as you go to work. But also I think in addition to the gain in the Lord, we have the goodness from the Lord. You know, the good that comes to us, it says she does him good and not harm all the days of her life.
00:11:11
Speaker
You know, if your wife is a blessing to you, you should say, thank you, God. I sense your goodness flowing through my wife's relationship with me.
00:11:21
Speaker
But did you notice that the most important component of a happy marriage is the trust relationship? Yeah, the trust relationship. It says she does him good and not not harm all the days of her life.
00:11:35
Speaker
The heart of her husband trusts in her. He trusts in her. That's why it's a sacred trust. And we should always be very careful never to violate that trust.
00:11:48
Speaker
Let's go to the second thing, though. I think there's a second reason she's so valuable to your family because of the value of her sacrifices for her household, her sacrifices for her household.
00:12:00
Speaker
You know, um we're going to see that it wasn't just the husband, but it was the household, the family, the children, her home. You know, she was willing to sacrifice and do what she could.
00:12:13
Speaker
Did you notice as I was reading through there that the word household is mentioned actually? Four times? Look at verse 15. Look at verse 21 and 27. Four times.
00:12:24
Speaker
That's interesting to me because the word husband's only mentioned three times, and yet the household's mentioned four times. I think it's because... A mother cares so much for her children and for her family.
00:12:38
Speaker
I love the way it says that she willingly sacrifices her talents. Did you see that in verse 13? She seeks wool and flax and works.
00:12:48
Speaker
So whatever talents God's placed her hand, she works with willing hands. Nobody's making her. She's just glad to do it. Why? Because she loves her family.
00:13:00
Speaker
She willingly sacrifices her talents for her family. And and many times she's willing to travel. She's willing to sacrifice. You know, my wife followed me to Canada after we were married. We were there for six years. And then my wife followed me to Japan.
00:13:18
Speaker
We were there for 12 years. And then my wife followed me to Columbus. And we've been here now almost 19 years in July. But I'm just thanking the Lord so much for how a good supportive wife says, I'm going to take care of the family and I don't care where our address is.
00:13:37
Speaker
I'm going to continue to care for my husband and for my kids. She willingly sacrifices her talents. She willingly sacrifices in travel. But haven't you seen this?
00:13:49
Speaker
She willingly sacrifices her time, doesn't she? Verse 15 says, You know it says she rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.
00:14:02
Speaker
It's hard to make it all fit. Sometimes there's so much happening in real time, in real life. And yet I think that what God is trying to call attention, our attention to here is don't miss the sacrifices that your wife is helping because you're so busy with what God's given you to do with your career, but she's helping.
00:14:24
Speaker
to put it all together. Bruce Walkie says that the idea here of she rises, she rises. What would they have been thinking about back then?
00:14:35
Speaker
Well, I'll tell you what the the Old Testament scholars who spent a lot of time studying this said, it reminds them of a lioness, a lioness who rises at night and goes in search of prey so that she might feed her young.
00:14:52
Speaker
Wow, I'm thinking, Well-being of the cubs she placed above her own well-being. Burning the candle at both ends. It's not a good way to live, but in a way, she says, it's the best way to live.
00:15:05
Speaker
Because I want to care for my household. I'm willing to sacrifice for my household. You know, as you drop down into verses 13 and 18, you see that many of the sacrifices of a mother, they're unseen.
00:15:18
Speaker
They're unseen. They're unseen, and it's impossible to estimate. It's impossible to measure how much she's sacrificing. She expends mental energy planning, it says in verse 16. She considers.
00:15:32
Speaker
She invests financial resources with purchases. You know, when our girls were in college, it took both of us. We both were putting in, and I was so glad that Jodi helped me as we tried to cover those bases.
00:15:46
Speaker
but she invests financial resources. She considers a field and she buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. It could be similar to parenting, wouldn't you say?
00:15:57
Speaker
But also, she exerts physical stamina in parenting. Takes a lot to stay on top of your game in parenting. You know, when it says she plants a vineyard, I wonder if it could be, could be used for a metaphor, couldn't it?
00:16:11
Speaker
In nurturing and training her children, Most scholars interpret verse 18 as the effective investment of motherhood that supplies the light to keep the family from going dark.
00:16:26
Speaker
Could you do it without your wife? Could you do it without your mom? I don't think so. And neither does God. And he said, that's the reason the lights stay on.
00:16:37
Speaker
But what about the third thing, the value of her service with her hands?
Transformative Work of a Mother's Hands
00:16:42
Speaker
Her hands are spotlighted often in this passage. Did you notice it? Six times in our text.
00:16:49
Speaker
If you would look at verse 13, verse 19, verse 20, verse 31. In verse 19 and 20, hands are mentioned twice. But already in verse 13, we remember, what was it that said about her hands earlier?
00:17:04
Speaker
She works with willing hands. Willing, she's glad to do it. But now we see her precious hands in service. And what is she doing with those hands?
00:17:15
Speaker
Well, I'll tell you what I see in these verses. You know, I see that she's laboring. Those are laboring hands, weaving clothes for those that she holds dear.
00:17:27
Speaker
You know, who picks out the clothes? As a matter of fact, one time I had a meeting down in Corpus. I thought, you know what? I'm going to pick out something for my family. I got Jody something. I thought, you know, that's really cute.
00:17:39
Speaker
So I thought, I'm going to get that for my two daughters, Elisa and Abby. So I bought them. I never saw them wear that ever, like what they picked out. I'm so glad that Jody helps with ah the clothing and we go with whatever their preference is. But I'm just thinking, man, you know what?
00:17:55
Speaker
She uses... her hands to clothe her family. She also has loving hands, loving hands, offering the necessities for those who are destitute because yes, her family is safe.
00:18:08
Speaker
Yes, her family is well clothed. Yes, her family is well fed. But isn't it precious that he says also the Proverbs 31 woman says, it's not just about me.
00:18:19
Speaker
It's not even just about my kids and my family. I also care about others that are less fortunate. See, this woman is not driven by fear. She's driven by her faith and by responsibility and by service.
00:18:33
Speaker
And I think it's something we should say, i value that service that I see all the time through your hands. Well, let's go next. to the value of her strength.
00:18:44
Speaker
But before we go there, I just wanted to point out something I read over and over. It didn't matter which Old Testament scholar I read. They all said the same thing about this poem. Do you know what this poem is called? It's a certain kind of poem.
00:18:58
Speaker
It's called heroic poetry because usually the way they're wording things in this passage, talking about strength and honor, strength and honor, And all these kind of things rising up late and all of this.
00:19:12
Speaker
What is the deal here? Well, it recounts a hero's mighty deeds. Only here it's celebrating the work of a noble mother.
00:19:24
Speaker
It's almost like she's fighting life's battles for you and for your kids, for your home. And so we should recognize it. And that's why Mother's Day doesn't just pass by as any old other day.
00:19:38
Speaker
We should say, no, no, I recognize the service that you do. I recognize the strength that you display.
Strength and Dignity of Mothers
00:19:46
Speaker
It's interesting in the Hebrew Bible, what comes after Proverbs? Well, in my Bible, I've got it open right there to Proverbs 31. That's the last chapter. What comes after Proverbs?
00:19:57
Speaker
Ecclesiastes, not in the Hebrew Bible. You know what comes after Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible? Ruth. It's like I'm going to show you what it's like with principles, but then I'm going to show you someone's life who lived it out.
00:20:12
Speaker
Tomorrow, I'm going to be doing a celebration of life service for Wilma Hickman. And maybe many of you who are new to our church, you might not know Wilma Hickman. she She was called home to heaven at 99 years of age.
00:20:28
Speaker
But you know what her her favorite passage in the Bible was, her favorite book? book of Ruth. And the more I talked with her family, the more I thought, you know what? She really reminds me of Ruth. She lived like Ruth and like the Proverbs 31 woman.
00:20:46
Speaker
Wilma Hickman, we will we will honor her tomorrow in this building 10 o'clock. But I just thought to myself, sometimes we don't really understand the strength that a woman exerts.
00:21:00
Speaker
And so that's why I wanted to remind you that when it says in verse 10, look at verse 10. Does it say excellent wife? Does it say virtuous wife? Does it say a noble wife? What is the word that it uses there?
00:21:12
Speaker
The Hebrew word is hayil. Hayil. The Hebrew word hayil means strength. It means power. And therefore it means someone who's competent.
00:21:24
Speaker
It means someone who is virtuous because they have the strength to say no to temptation in their life. And so I'm thinking, isn't that amazing that Proverbs 31 is going to describe this wonderful mother and wife and it uses Hayal.
00:21:41
Speaker
It's like she's a woman of strength. Have you ever seen her strength? Let me just give you some ideas on how you might glimpse God. the strength that your wife displays, the mother of your children displays every single day of each week.
00:21:57
Speaker
I got to looking at this really closely and I thought, you know what? I see five outfits that this mother, a Proverbs 31 mother puts on every single day.
00:22:08
Speaker
It just came to me even this morning. I was thinking, you know what? I see the arm ah the garments there. It says strength and dignity are her clothing, And she laughs at the time to come.
00:22:21
Speaker
You drop down to verse 27 and it says, she looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. So what are the garments? How does she display strength? You might miss it if you're not looking closely.
00:22:36
Speaker
I think first we see the garment of resilience. Resilience. when it uses the word strength, it doesn't mean you could sit down at the table and say, okay, I heard you're strong. Let's see who's the strongest. Come on, put your arm down there. Let's let's arm wrestle.
00:22:52
Speaker
There's some ladies I might not want to put my arm down there. I think I can take care of Jody, but I don't know about all of you. So anyway, but here's the thing. Sometimes strength is seen in that persistence, that resilience, that steadfastness.
00:23:10
Speaker
Hasn't there been a time? I can't imagine my mother when I was in high school, when I was going into my first year of college. That's when I surrendered my life to Christ. But before that, I'm sad to say I broke my mother's heart constantly, consistently.
00:23:27
Speaker
But you know what? When Jesus came into my life, her prayers were answered. I know that she was praying for me. And so I'm thinking, what kept her going all that time?
00:23:38
Speaker
It was that garment. of resilience. Let's look at another garment. It says another garment in her closet of character is this, the garment of excellence.
00:23:50
Speaker
Excellence. What does dignity mean if it doesn't mean the pursuit of excellence? It means I don't care the way that others choose to live those lower, lower lives. No, I want a higher form of life.
00:24:03
Speaker
I want the absolute best that I can give to my children, to my husband, So they're going to put on a garment of excellence. They're also going to put on a garment of confidence. would Would a godly mother be afraid of the future?
00:24:19
Speaker
No. Christ takes the stinger out of that. That's why we sang earlier, you know, I'm not afraid. There's no fear in the heart of a godly mother because she knows that her future has already been written by the Lord.
00:24:33
Speaker
Strength and honor her clothing. And what does she do about the time to come? says she laughs. There's a joy. There's a joy that's possible in Christ.
00:24:43
Speaker
Whenever a godly wife or mother, she may have a lot of things coming against her, but oh, if she only could just reach in there and say, you know what? I'm going to put on the garment of confidence because I trust God with my future.
00:24:58
Speaker
She looks well to the ways of her household. I don't know what comes to your mind, but you know what comes to my mind? They said it's like someone on a guard post. And so I thought vigilance. She's got a garment of vigilance.
00:25:10
Speaker
Sometimes, you know, it's amazing as we've gone through life. Jody's the one that's more perceptive of when the enemy is trying to get in. And Jody would always speak. And so I'm so thankful for a wife, for a mother that's vigilance.
00:25:25
Speaker
Sometimes her heart breaks for what she has seen across the years in our girls. They're doing great now. But at that time, there were always things that they would go through. But there's also the garment of diligence.
00:25:39
Speaker
She looks well to the ways of her household with vigilance, but she does not eat the bread of idleness. No, not negligence, diligence.
00:25:50
Speaker
ah that's That's who my wife is. And that's also who my mother was in Tennessee. And she still is. Diligence. You know, I thought about that one about driving.
00:26:02
Speaker
And you know, most people don't know this, but my mom drove by herself down here. You know, there's nobody to bring her. So she came by herself. She drove from Milan, Tennessee down here. It was about 12, 13 hour drive.
00:26:15
Speaker
One time she drove and never even stopped. When she got to her house, She was so excited to be there. We sat around the table and she fainted. she just She was so tired. She was exhausted. Then whenever Lisa had her wedding, my mom was on the way and she got sick driving.
00:26:33
Speaker
And she ran off the road and hit a tree in a forest in Arkansas. And so some of my cousins had to go and pick her up, take her back home. And I thought, you know what? that's That's a woman of strength.
00:26:46
Speaker
Well, let me close with two more. The value of her speech.
Nurturing Through a Mother's Speech
00:26:50
Speaker
You know, if anybody holds the family together like glue, I think it was James that said that, James Crystal in his prayer, it's definitely the the wife.
00:27:00
Speaker
You know the husband is the biblical head of the home, but I wonder if the wife, you know what you are? You're the heart of the home. You're the heart.
00:27:10
Speaker
You're the one that holds it all together. You're the one that pumps the lifeblood all the way through the family. Proverbs 14, one says, the wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.
00:27:26
Speaker
It's a sad thing when you see a woman tear down her house rather than build up her house. But one way she does that is Ephesians 4 29. How does she build up her house?
00:27:37
Speaker
Well, it says, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give, get this grace to those who hear, you know, usually grace comes only from God, right?
00:27:56
Speaker
But get this, God said the things I say could actually impart grace. So mom, don't forget that key role that your words have.
00:28:07
Speaker
You could speak words of grace. When I look at verse 26, she opens her mouth with wisdom. The teaching of kindness is on her tongue. I see due to two different kinds of grace.
00:28:20
Speaker
I believe there are words that lead to God's wisdom. So mom's saying, why don't we read a little bit of scripture? But then there are also words that love with God's healing.
00:28:30
Speaker
Those are those kind words that I think only a mom says to us. But also the value of her secret behind her honor is where we end this today.
Praise and Honor for Mothers
00:28:40
Speaker
See, the last four verses refer to the honor given to a godly mother by her children, by her husband.
00:28:49
Speaker
by her community. See, it's just like it's going out more and more. She will be praised, or I guess she should be praised. She's not always praised, but she should be.
00:29:02
Speaker
And the Bible says she will be.
00:29:06
Speaker
you know, many mothers can be overlooked, but I would just like to point out something here. I brought up rubies for a reason. Do you know where 90% of the world's rubies, I mean, they can be on the finest, you know, hands throughout the world. They could be in the finest displays and on, you know, robed with incredible expensive garments and so forth.
00:29:32
Speaker
But that's not where the rubies started. You know where 90% of the world's rubies, they come from the Magok Valley. Does anybody know where the Magok Valley is? I didn't think so.
00:29:43
Speaker
I didn't. The Magog Valley is a little known valley in Burma. You see, that's where the rubies were found. That's why I'm thinking, you know what? Sometimes we don't really, we think all the rubies are found in Hollywood.
00:29:59
Speaker
All the rubies are found in New York. All the rubies are found in Los Angeles or London or Paris or Dallas or Houston. know what I think?
00:30:09
Speaker
I think we overlook rubies sometimes. She's gonna be cherished because she is a hidden treasure. Maybe nobody writes her up. Maybe nobody says, can we make a movie about your life?
00:30:22
Speaker
But here's what I think. I think she's going to be honored because of three treasures that are in her life, and it's the most important. Why is she doing all the other things? Here's the secret.
00:30:34
Speaker
Three simple words. The first word is favor. what what What is it that her children are gonna say? Her children rise up and call her blessed, blessed.
00:30:47
Speaker
Mom, you're blessed. Mom, I see God's grace on you. I see God's goodness on you. Mom, we don't deserve somebody like you, but you have God's favor upon your life.
00:30:59
Speaker
And I think every mother would say, thank you, God. Thank you for how you bless me with my husband. Thank you for how you bless me with these precious children. Thank you for how you blessed us with our home and our lives today.
00:31:12
Speaker
with our career and all the different things that are going on. But I believe that secondly, she was grateful not only for the favor, she was grateful also for her family. Because it mentions here at the end when it's in the in the context of talking about all these people who honor her.
00:31:29
Speaker
I'll tell you what it says. <unk> It mentions the word children. They rise up and call her blessed. It mentions the word husband. He praises her. Yeah, her family.
00:31:41
Speaker
They're the ones that just come around her and say, you know what? There's nobody like you, mom. But then I thought it's interesting. when ah When a husband honors his wife, when children honor their mother, it doesn't stop with that, the doorstep of the house.
00:31:57
Speaker
Did you notice that the gates let her works praise her in the gates? You know who ought to be talking about? Their wives and their mothers in the gates. the husbands and the kids.
00:32:09
Speaker
Husbands and the kids have are to be saying, there's nobody like my mom. You ought to see her. There's nobody like my wife. You ought to see her in all that she does for our family. But where does it all come from?
00:32:21
Speaker
It all comes from the third one. I think she's grateful for the faith. I don't know where she would have trusted Christ, but somewhere it says a woman who fears the Lord.
00:32:32
Speaker
That's where it all starts. It all begins when a woman trusts Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. And begins to say, you know what? I'm going to follow you.
00:32:45
Speaker
i'm going to close with one last thing. You know, this this Mother's Day could be the best one. And it could be the best one because you're going to trust Christ. Or because maybe your husband's going to say, if you're trusting Christ, I've seen him in your life so much.
00:33:02
Speaker
I want to trust Christ too. Or maybe the kids are going to say, I want to trust Christ. But here's the thing I thought was interesting. There was a man named Peter Buck.
00:33:13
Speaker
And Peter Buck's wife got cancer. Her name was Carmen Lucia. And when she was in bed struggling with the cancer, she kept thumbing through different magazines, as only ladies can do.
00:33:26
Speaker
But she would thumb through the the magazines and she said, look at this ruby. She said, look at this ruby they just discovered. It's 23 carat.
00:33:37
Speaker
It's the largest and the finest ruby that they've ever discovered up to that time. And so when she passed away, you know what he did? Peter Buck said, I'm going to buy that ruby and I'm going to display it.
00:33:53
Speaker
And so now it's on display at the Smithsonian. You can check it out. And the Smithsonian will tell you why it's there. He said, this ruby is to honor my wife, Carmen Lucia, because she reminds me of this ruby.
00:34:09
Speaker
I want you to stand as we come to a close, and there may be something that you need to take care of with God. Remember the secret? The secret was she placed her faith in the Lord.
00:34:20
Speaker
She feared God. She loved God. She wanted to follow Him. He's the one who made her a great wife and a great mother. And so if you want to trust Jesus Christ. We want to give you that opportunity, even on this Mother's Day.
00:34:34
Speaker
But if you're a husband, if you're children, you're a student, it doesn't matter how old you are. You can even be single. and You could just say, you know what? The message resonated. It connected with me today.
00:34:45
Speaker
I want to follow Jesus Christ. So let's pray together. And I'll be standing down front if someone needs to make a decision. would love to talk with you. Lord, thank you again for this time to look into your word.
00:34:58
Speaker
You speak as we enter into this invitation. Some may need to trust Christ. Some may need to, i don't know, reconnect with you because maybe there's something like prodigal son.
00:35:10
Speaker
I know in the parable, the prodigal son came back to his father, but it could be in this room. There may be a prodigal son, prodigal daughter that needs to come back to the mother and say, you know what?
00:35:21
Speaker
I really saw you as we looked at that passage. And so I pray for that. ah Lord, it could be that someone else says, I've never really been around a church that honors women, that honors families, that honors Christ, that honors the word of God and just goes right through each verse.
00:35:40
Speaker
So maybe they're going to come today. Whatever is on their hearts, you guide them and may you be honored and you be pleased. For your glory we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
00:35:56
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.