daily devo: "GOING GOd’S WAY"
Rev. Reuben K. Youngdahl, grandfather to Eric Youngdahl and Senior Pastor of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church from 1938-1968, was widely known and respected for his pastoral leadership and his uplifting messages of God's love. These messages were published into devotional books so that people might find hope in the promises found in Jesus Christ.
One of his many books was titled, "Going God’s Way.” Pastor Youngdahl issues the challenge for people to go ahead and live today in the faithfulness of God. In his words: “Live each day by itself. Begin and end each one in communion with God. Life’s meaning will be made clear, and its challenge will summon you to follow the way of the Lord, and claim the triumphant life He is able to give you.”
May 5
Thank God for Your Mother
“Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father.” -Leviticus 19.3
“What kind of woman was your mother?” the slave master asked the young African whom he had recently purchased.
The boy hesitated as if he did not care to answer.
“Come on, tell me,” said the master, “what kind of woman was she? Was she tall? Was she thin? Old? Young?”
After hesitating a few moments the boy lifted his face, his eyes glistening. “She was beautiful!” he said, his voice breaking.
That young lad became one of the finest servants the master had ever had. Later in life he told his master that, if he had done him any good, it was due to the inspiring influence of his mother.
We who have enjoyed the privilege of loving, Christian mothers should thank God often for them. Truly, home is where Mother is, and without her, there is a continual void. A wonderful Mother is the one who tells us about God, and what He can do for our lives. She teaches us that we have two homes- one that we share with our family, and the other, our church home, where we worship God. We learn from her that the church is not just a building of wood or brick, but a place that our heavenly Father fills with His glory; that it is a power station where we are charged with energy and strength and courage to keep going.
It sometimes comes to me that God must be much like a Christian mother. A pastor disciplined his son for staying out late one night and bringing his mother a night of wakefulness and worry.
“I don’t see why Mother has to stay awake on my account,” the boy said finally.
“Well,” his father replied, “God made mothers that way, that is all I know.”
So it is with our heavenly Father. He is always on the alert, always concerned about his children, always answering their needs, always willing to guide them into pathways of more abundant living. There is not a single soul He does not love. There is not a single soul for whom He has not given His life. He offers a beautiful friendship to all who choose to walk life’s way with Him.
TODAY’S THOUGHT:There are times when a person would pay a million dollars for one faithful friend. Yet, how many have accepted the freely offered hand of our heavenly Father?
