Lesson 19 - Elementary

Memory Verse

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord"  (Ephesians 6:1).

Notes

A Christian Mother Is One of God's Great Blessings

One of the greatest blessings a child can have is a Christian mother. She will tell her child about Jesus, about His love, that He died on the Cross to save children from their sins, so that they may go to Heaven to be with Jesus forever. She will teach them to pray and to learn God's Holy Word, and to give their lives to God. The Christian mother can keep her children from doing things that would bring them much suffering, if the children obey what the mother tells them. God has given a commandment with a promise that if we honour our parents it will be well with us and we shall live long on the earth.

A Mother's Prayer Was Answered

A Christian mother, named Hannah, had no son and she wanted one very much. Perhaps she wanted a son so that she could give him to the Lord's work.

One day when she was praying and telling God that if He would give her a son she would give him to God, a good man, named Eli, told her that God was going to answer her prayer. She went away happy, believing that God would keep His promise.

Samuel Was Brought to the Temple

When Samuel, the boy God gave Hannah, was very young, his mother kept her promise to god and brought Samuel to the Temple to serve the Lord. She said she had lent him to the Lord. Hannah probably went often to see her boy and to bring him presents. Samuel became a great and a good man, and was surely thankful to God for a good mother.

Mary Was Chosen to be the Mother of Jesus

The greatest Christian mother was Mary, the mother of Jesus. When God looked down from Heaven and saw many women -– some loved God and many did not -– He saw one who loved Him very much, and He chose her to be the mother of His Son Jesus.

He sent an angel called Gabriel to tell her that He was going to give her a son whom men would call Jesus. Then angel said He would be a great king, and do wonderful things. Mary believed what the angel told her, and she praised God for choosing her. Perhaps she did not know how very great her Son was to be, but she thought a great deal about what the angel had said to her. Later she saw how wonderful a Son God had given her. God knew she would be a good mother, or He would not have chosen her. Jesus loved His mother, and even while on the Cross, He was thinking of her -– finding her a home and someone to take care of her.

A Good Mother Trusts God

There were many mothers who loved God even before Jesus came to this earth, and God was pleased with them and blessed them. We have read about the good woman who often invited a man of God to come into her home and eat. One day she told her husband that it would be a good thing for them to give him a room in their house, for she believed he was a man of God.

Perhaps he needed to have that room, for he accepted it and no doubt was very thankful for it. One day he called her and told her that God would give her a son.

A Mother Has Faith in the Man of God

One day the boy said he felt sick, and he died in his mother's lap. She laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door, and went to look for the man of God. She must have believed that he would pray for the boy and God would raise him up again. When the man of God came to her home, he surely asked God to bring the boy back to life, and God did it.

It is always good to trust God, to believe His Word, and thank Him for all His goodness. It is good, too, to thank God for Christian parents.

Questions

1. Why is it important for children to go to Sunday School? [PRO:22:6].

2. What did Hannah promise God if He would give her a son? [1SM:1:11].

3. Did she keep that promise? [1SM:1:24].

4. Whom should we love even more than our father or mother? [MAT:10:37].

5. What is promised us if we honour our parents? [EXO:20:12].