| My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline … |
| —from Proverbs 3:11 |
No one likes to receive a rebuke for his or her behavior. We all would rather that people just let us behave in whatever way we choose to behave. However, if we all lived like that, life would consist of one scene of chaos after another. We would soon fall into a heap of exhaustion because of the confusion and nastiness around us.
In order to proper guide their dearly loved children, loving parents learn early that they must discipline their children to point them in the right direction. Every time I’m in a restaurant where very young children scream out, I think of the family in my church in Connecticut, many years ago, who taught their children to remain calm and not scream whenever they entered a public place. If one of their children started to raise his or her voice, the dad of the family would calmly say:
“Remember, no screamies.”
It worked! At least it worked for these kids. They would never scream out in a public setting where their piercing screams might disturb others.
God longs to help us learn how to behave in a world tainted by sin and a world that possesses a natural overriding sin nature. God does so lovingly, but firmly. The degree we will grow in our walk with Him depends on how well we receive His discipline. Notice what King Solomon writes, as recorded in Proverbs 3:11-12:
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
As we start another new day, let’s cheerfully and gratefully receive the Lord’s discipline whenever He sends it our way. If we learn to allow Him to shape our behavior through His loving and caring instruction, we will become much better followers—much better disciples—bathed in God’s love and grace.
