Tree of Life

7 min read

13 He even deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
— 1 Kings 15:13

With Mother’s Day coming up, we are reminded what a great influence the women, and in particular the mothers, have in our lives. If my wife, CJ, had not made me promise to go to church as a condition for marrying her, I never would have been saved.

That was a pretty amazing demand on her part. It said that her relationship with Jesus was more important than her relationship with me. I’m not sure that she even thought of it that way. I certainly did not. But reflecting back, that is basically what it means.

The predestined connections between CJ and I are pretty “spooky.” Both our families are from Busan. Her uncle and my uncle knew each other well. They ran in the same circles. And it seems pretty clear to me that God brought CJ into my life according to His sovereign plan so that I might become saved.

And praise God for that. Because I surely wasn’t going to be saved by my own mother, whom I’ve never met. I’ve never even seen a picture of her. But I can’t but feel that she would have been like Maakah in my life, leading me away from Christ and not toward Christ.

In that regard, I’m going to say some things in today’s blog that are broad generalizations coming from my own personal observations. I pray I don’t offend anyone.

The main observation I want to share is that I have rarely ever seen an unbelieving woman come to church because of a believing husband or boyfriend (although I know of one case for sure). If that kind of thing happens, it is usually because a believing woman leads an unbelieving husband or boyfriend to church.

We could have a very interesting (and probably heated) discussion about why that may be the case. But one reality becomes very clear from that observation. For the most part, women have a tremendous influence on the spiritual vibrancy of a church. When the women are on fire for Christ and His church, men tend to follow suit—at least in our cultural context.

But what that also means is that the spiritual health of the women in our churches (ours, for sure) is so critically important. In particular, we need the older women to be wise and sensitive models of God-fearing, God-honoring, God-worshiping, God-loving believers for the younger women and to be their mentors, as well.

But that’s not easy, is it? It takes effort. It takes presence. It takes sacrifice. It takes perseverance. It takes love. And most of all, it takes staying connected to Christ in order to understand His purpose and desire for our lives. We’ve been talking about all these things in our Living Live Bible Study.

If the believing women don’t love Christ and His church, there’s little chance that the men in our community will do so. Speaking for myself (and I think I speak for many), men typically just want peace at home.

Of course, Maakah is an extreme example of what NOT to be as a woman. But let’s face it. Following idols is just too easy in this world. The remedy is to intentionally, actively, and purposefully follow Christ and to do the things that HE wants us to do.

Obviously, this is true for everyone! But as Mother’s Day is coming up, I just want to encourage the women of Canvas. I see God transforming you all into devoted and faithful women of God. A devoted and faithful woman is a beautiful tree of life.

Father, I thank You for the women in our lives. I thank You for my wife and for saving me. I thank You for how she keeps me accountable to being a faithful servant. I pray that You will strengthen and encourage her and all the women of Canvas and GCC to be models of loving You and loving one another. In Jesus’s name. Amen.