The official Mother’s Day holiday arose in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children.
After gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner named John Wanamaker, in May 1908 she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia. Following the success of her first Mother’s Day, Jarvis—who remained unmarried and childless her whole life—started a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood. Her persistence paid off in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
There are many famous moms in the Bible. We were given insight into the lives of Eve, Sarah, the mother of Moses and others. But for obvious reasons, the mother of Jesus is in a class all by herself. It is hard to imagine what it must have been like for her raising a fully perfect and sinless son.
But there is one event where Mary and her son were in the middle of an interesting situation. It was the story of the wedding in Cana in John chapter 2. Mary was attending or even involved in the planning. Jesus and the disciples were invited guests. But at one point, Mary came to Jesus because they were running out of wine. But when she approached Him with the problem, he gave a seemingly odd answer in the form of a question. He basically said, 'What has that got to do with me since my hour has not yet come.' He was nicely telling her that he had new priorities and that his entire life was now about the soon coming cross. This answer may have confused his mom a bit. But she accepted it what he stated anyway.
But what is important here was Mary’s immediate response. She turned to the servants and said in verse 5, "Whatever he says to you, do it." Was she expecting a miracle of some kind at this point? We really don't know the answer to that question.
But either way, she was placing her full faith and confidence in whatever it was that the Lord would do - or not do. In the midst of this social crisis she was in the middle of, she was telling them, whatever my son says to you don't question it. Don't ignore it. Don't doubt it. And don't resist it. Just listen up and obey it . Mary was giving the servants 'the' perfect advice because she knew enough of Jesus to trust Him fully to handle any crucial matter perfectly! And isn’t this that level of faith we need to have in the Lord - no matter what the situation is before us?
Mothers are generally the ones in the family unit that provide sound wisdom for their children. This is generally good advice and especially when they are Christians and their suggestion are based on Biblical principles. And yet, there are none who are themselves perfect all of the time. But there is one word of advice that actually is. And that was summed up in Mary’s words when she turned to the servants and said, "Whatever he says to you, do it.”
The best advice we can ever give, or receive, is to do ‘whatever’ Jesus tells us to do. His perfect wisdom comes through various sources. It comes via the Scriptures, from the lips of his faithful servants, through fervent prayer and through the godly counsel of other grounded believers. And when this is faithfully received and acted upon, we can depend on experiencing a multitude of God's great promises like the one found in Proverbs 3:5-6.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."
Bill Breckenridge
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