Dear
Christa—
As the book
of 2 Kings trips through one king after another, pacing through the history of
Israel’s divided kingdoms, it is recorded how many years or months each king
reigned, whether or not he followed God, and often who his mother was.
In that
epoch, to be the queen mother was a powerful position. I think the listing of
these names had more significance than simply clarifying which woman of the harem
had birthed the newly crowned king. To be a mother was no light matter.
As these
father kings were waging wars and tending to a plethora of wives, it seems to
me it was on the knees of these mothers where the future kings were probably
most influenced. And, apparently most of them didn’t do a very good job. King
after king worshiped idols in the high places, some even sacrificing their
children.
So powerful
were these women that one, Athaliah (2 Kings 11), when her son died, proceeded
to attempt to kill all her grandchildren in order to rule the nation, which she
managed to do for six years.
And, except
for just a very few, evil parents begot evil children, seeking power, prestige,
and self indulgence—generation to generation until God had His fill and
eventually both kingdoms were taken over by powerful, conquering nations.
Often
mothers will delay their own ambitions to train a child. It seemed to me that
with the birth of each child, some activity that I’d done was set aside. There
simply wasn’t time. Some of those things I’ve taken back up; some I haven’t,
but it had to be.
There is so
much more to raising kids than providing for them and sharing the joys and
sorrows. There’s the conscious teaching—teaching them Whom to worship.
To be a
mother is no light matter.
