WHY DO WE DO IT?

God CREATED us for this task.

God has created women physically for the task of childbearing. He has given us a womb to conceive and nurture life, and breasts to nourish that life. One of the Greek words for woman is ‘thelus’ derived from ‘thele’ meaning ‘the nipple of a woman’s breast, to nourish, to give suck.’ It is translated "woman" in Romans 1:26 and "female" in Matthew 19:4 and Mark 10:6.

The word ‘woman’ is a combination of ‘womb’ and ‘man’. We are ‘womb men.’ The womb is our most distinguishing characteristic as a woman. It is a gift from our Creator. It is His plan and destiny for us. When we decide to cut off the function of our womb, we despise God’s ultimate gift to us as women, and we thwart God’s highest calling for our lives.

God COMMISSIONED us for this purpose.

In Genesis 3:20 "Adam called his wife’s name Eve: because she was the mother of all living." When Adam said these words, Eve was not yet a mother. She had never experienced motherhood. She had never seen a newborn baby. She had never nursed a child at her breast. Why therefore, does Adam call her a mother? Adam spoke under the anointing of God and gave a prophetic word to his wife, and to all women to come. Eve was the prototype of all women who would be born. When Adam spoke these words, he proclaimed Eve’s highest destiny of motherhood and also that of all women to follow.

1 Timothy 5:10 gives a description of a woman who fulfilled God’s purposes for her life. She lived in the anointing of motherhood. She embraced the children that God intended for her and nurtured, nourished and trained them. But that was not all. She continued in motherhood all her life, releasing the maternal heart that God had put within her by divine creation. She opened her doors in hospitality, and she reached out her hands to care for the needy and the poor and those who needed the consolation of her mother heart.

God wants us to be COMMITTED to His calling for us.

Colossians 4:17 says, "Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. Motherhood is the ministry that we have received from the Lord. Therefore we should fulfil it with all our hearts.

J.B. Phillip’s translation says, "God ordained you to your work – see that you don’t fail Him."

I like Moffat’s translation too, "Attend to the duty entrusted to you…and discharge it to the full."

Colossians 3:23,24, J.B. Phillips says, "Whatever you do, put your whole heart and soul into it, as into work done for God, and not merely for men – knowing that your real reward, a heavenly one, will come from God, since you are actually employed by Christ…"for the Lord! You are making your home a sanctuary for the Lord. You are training your children for God and for the purposes that He has planned for them. Be encouraged. You are in the service of the King. Sometimes you can feel as though it is a thankless task, but God is watching. Don’t fail Him! Remember that Christ employs you. Therefore, be committed. Dear mother, God is your employer. It is God who has ordained you to mother the children that He has graciously given you. When you feel frustrated and no one appreciates your daily service in the home, (Yes, I’ve felt like that many times!) remember that you are working

God wants us to COMPLETE our work.

Luke 12:37-39 says, "Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes shall find watching…and if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through."

One of our biggest tasks as a mother is to be a WATCHDOG! In Titus 2:4 the phrase "keepers at home" actually means to be the "guardians of the home." We are to carefully guard our little flock like a ferocious watchdog. We must never give up on our job until the day when we meet the Lord. We need to stay on duty through every watch.

THE FIRST WATCH. Most mothers are faithful in the first watch when their babies are little. They devote themselves to caring for their little one, nursing their baby, and always being available to them. If the Lord were to come on the First Watch, they would be found faithful.

THE SECOND WATCH. Some mothers sit down a little on this watch. The children are now school age, and they can’t wait to get them off to school so they can get on with their own projects and things that they want to do. They send them off to kindergarten, and to school, to sit "in the counsel of the ungodly." Psalm 1:1. They are not concerned that their children may be learning things that are anti-God and anti-family and that they are being slowly brain-washed by humanistic philosophy. Would they be found faithful if the Lord should come during the Second Watch?

THE THIRD WATCH. Those who have been faithful in the first two watches, sometimes slip up here. Their children are now teens and going on to College. They feel that they are old enough to go out on their own, choose their own friends and date whoever they want. The mother feels that she really has time now to do other things, and even to get into ministry for the Lord!

Oh dear mothers, this is one of the most important watches. We simply cannot sit down on this watch. We must stay awake, be faithful, and stand upon our watch in the Third Watch. This is the most vulnerable age of all. This is when we need to be on duty in the home. We can’t vacate our post now! Our young people need constant watching and guarding. We need to be guarding carefully what they are watching, what they are reading and where they are going. We need to check what is hidden in their bedrooms. Yes, mothers, we are responsible before God. We are in charge of their lives and what is in our home while they live under our roof.

This is when we get serious about the prayer watch. We need to spend much time in prayer for our young people. More is wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Don’t give up on the Third Watch. We need to faithfully teach them God’s ways of godly courting, rather than worldly dating, and pray much for God’s partner for their lives. Oh may we be found faithful during this Third Watch.

THE FOURTH WATCH. The children are getting married now. The grandchildren are coming along. Do we give up motherhood now? No, we continue our mission until the day we meet Jesus. Of course, we can’t direct their lives now. They are setting up their own homes and establishing their own families. But we are commanded as older women to teach and encourage the younger mothers. However, our big job on this watch is to continue the PRAYER WATCH. We are to be faithful in prayer for our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.

I know of one dear mother who is now in her nineties. She prays for all her offspring every morning before she starts the day. When another grandchild or great-grandchild is born, she gets up 15 minutes earlier to add this child to her prayer list. Now in her old age, instead of sleeping in, she gets up earlier and earlier to pray for her descendants.

My husband comes from a family of nine children – all are serving the Lord. Their children are all serving the Lord, and now they are raising another generation to serve the Lord. They believe this blessing upon this family is because of the great-grandmother who was an intercessor and who prayed for the "coming generations."

Matthew 14:23-27 tells an incident in the life of Jesus, "When he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray…. and in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea…." (Mark 6:4;8) Jesus gives us the example of praying in the fourth watch. It was while he was praying that he became aware of the disciples in the storm. It is as we pray that God will show us the areas of need that we should be praying about for our families. This is how we guard in the fourth watch.

2 John v.8 RSV says, "Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward." Don’t lose all you have done by sitting down in the Fourth Watch.

Here are some other scriptures to remind us to be continually on our watch.

Jeremiah 51:12, "Make the watch strong."

Habakkuk 2:1, "I will stand upon my watch." We mustn’t sit down on our watch, or go to sleep on our watch. Remember that we are the guardians of our home.

1 Thessalonians 5:6, "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober."

Hebrews 13:17 is a word to elders of the church, but I believe that it is also a word for us as mothers and for fathers too of course. "They watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief." If we are faithful Watchdogs unto the end, we will have joy and not grief.

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