 
Illustration. Manoah's Sacrifice. "How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?" Judges 13:12. 1. WHY did Adam call his wife's name Eve? “And Adam called his wife's name Eve: because she was the mother of all living.” Gen. 3:20. Note.—It is said that the three sweetest words in any language are mother, home, and heaven. 2. What did God say to Abraham concerning his wife, Sarah? “And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.” Gen. 17:16. 3. What commandment guards the honor of the mother? “Honor thy father and thy mother.” Ex. 20:12. 4. How early did Hannah dedicate her son Samuel to God? “And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed ... give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life.” 1 Sam. 1:11. 5. To whom did God commit the care and early training of His only begotten Son? [pg 724]“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshiped Him.” Matt. 2:11. 6. Under the influence of her tender care and faithful instruction, what is said of the child life of Jesus? “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him.... And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:40-52. Notes.—“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” “A mother is a mother still, The holiest thing on earth.” A Christian mother, above all others, can deeply implant and faithfully cherish the seeds of truth in the young and tender heart. More even than the father, the mother molds the life, character, and destiny of man. Every stage and phase of life is touched and influenced by her. Infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and old age alike center in her. She is both the morning and the evening star of life,—the angel spirit of the home. 7. What tender, filial regard did Christ manifest for His mother in the hour of His death? “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved [John], He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” John 19:26, 27. 8. How early did Timothy know the Scriptures? “And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.” 2 Tim. 3:15. 9. What is said of his mother and his grandmother? “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice.” 2 Tim. 1:5. Note.—No position in life is superior to that of the mother, no influence more potent for good or evil. “All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my mother,” said Abraham Lincoln. “All that I have ever accomplished in life, I owe to my mother,” declared D. L. Moody. “A kiss from my mother,” said Benjamin West, “made me a painter.” “My mother was the making of me,” declares the noted inventor, Thomas A. Edison. And Andrew Carnegie, the millionaire, who gave his mother his earnings when a boy, adds, “I am deeply touched by the remembrance of one to whom I owe everything that a wise mother ever gave to a son who adored her.” It has been truly said that the home is the primeval school, the best, the most hallowed, and the most potential of all academies, and that the mother is the first, the most influential, and therefore the most important of all teachers. See poem on page 721. |
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