For those of us who have been blessed to have a mother or mother figure in our lives, the nurturing care that we have enjoyed has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on us. They are a powerful influence in our lives. We may have picked up some character traits or personality quirks from them, or they may have played a vital role in our coming to Christ. Whatever the level of involvement your mother or mother figure has had in your life, you would not be the same without her.
J.R. Miller, a preacher from the late 1800’s, said the following about the influence of mothers in his sermon “The Seeds We Are Scattering.” This Sunday as you celebrate your mother, thank her for the seeds she planted in your life that made you who you are today.
Though all are born "dead in trespasses and sins;" in another sense, when a baby is born, its life is only a patch of soil in which, as yet, nothing is growing.
A mother's hand is the first to plant seeds there, in the looks of tender love which her eyes dart into the child's soul, in her smiles and caresses and croonings, and her thousand efforts to reach the child's heart and shape its powers, and in the lessons which she teaches.
All our thoughts, words, and acts are seeds. They have in them a quality that makes them grow where they fall, reproducing themselves. This is true of the good we do.
The mother's teachings enter the mind and heart of her child as mere seeds, but they reappear in the life of the son or daughter, in later years — in strength and beauty, in nobleness of character, and in usefulness of life. Not only is this strange power in the mother's words; her acts, her habits, her tones of voice, the influences that go forth from her life are also seeds, having in them a vital principle. Where they lodge, they grow.
You can never lose your mother! She may die, and her body may be buried out of your sight, and laid away in God's acre. You will see her face and hear her voice no more; no more will her hand scatter the good seeds of truth and love, upon your life's garden. But you have not lost her! Your mind and heart are full of the seeds that fell from her hand along the years. These you never can lose. No hand of death can root them out of your life. They have grown into the very fibers of your character. They reappear in your habits, your dispositions, your feelings and opinions, your modes of thought, your very phrases and forms of speech! You can never lose your mother; the threads of her life are woven inextricably into your life!
All the noble things that fall from your hands as you travel along life's paths are seeds, and will not die. The good things we do, with the true words we speak, with the faithful example we show, with all the influences of our life that are Christ-like, are living seeds that we sow in the lives of others. They will not fall into the ground and perish. They will stay where they drop, and you will find them again after many days. They will germinate and grow, and yield a harvest!
