Sunday, January 31, 1999 This Week's Lesson:
In this week's lesson, which came from Proverbs 3:11-12, we learned that the chastening hand of the Lord is a sign of His love for us. We also learned that we should strive to endure His correction with patience, discipline, and faith. Solomon began this passage by using the expression, "My son." These words show that the Lord deals with each of us intimately and personally. They also show His personal devotion to us, that of a kind, loving parent to his or her beloved child. No one likes to be punished. Yet, Solomon encouraged us to not be totally negative about our heavenly Father's stern methods of discipline. Serving God is a personal, not just religious walk, and He takes parental-type responsibility for each of us. Everyone falters, sometimes a lot! But God, like a loving parent, straightens our path. Sometimes, His methods are gentle. Sometimes, they are not so gentle. But He always gets the job done, and we do well when we yield to His chastening Hand rather than resist. Stubbornness with God will not get us anywhere. Hebrews 12:6-7 says, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" Revelation 3:19 says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
Though difficult at the time, we should always try to accept the Lord's chastening as best as we can. Correction is a sign of His love for us. We need to accept it and learn to be thankful for it. Hebrews 12:8 says, "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." God corrects us because He loves us. He corrects us because we belong to Him. Without His divine correction, the Bible says that we are not His. His correction shows His concern and parental watch care over us. He prunes off our rough edges so we will be better, more faithful servants for Him. Being punished for our mistakes is right and proper, but it is often not much fun. None of us would choose to be punished if we could avoid it, and fortunately, much of it we can. If we were more mature spiritually, then we would not need so much correction. If we did not yield to every form of temptation, then we would be more perfect and more Christ-like. Therefore, the solution is relatively simple. We need to turn from those situations that cause us to stumble and walk away. I Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." We must learn to look for our God-given escape from sin, and by so doing, we will learn to minimize the amount of chastening that we receive from the Lord.
Walking right and living right is not easy. Everyone falters, and from time to time, each of us needs the Lord's gentle hand to put us back on track. As a good child of the Lord, endure His chastening and allow Him to work His perfect work in you. Through the coming week, try to find more ways to avoid the temptations that will come your way and then do your best to trust the Lord to guide your steps.
Tom of Spotswood"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
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