TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY AUGUST 22, 2016.
CHASTISEMENT
Fatherly correction; discipline; training.
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of His correction: for whom the Lord loves He corrects. Proverbs 3:11-12.
As a man chastens his son, so the Lord thy God chastens thee. Deuteronomy 8:5.
The Word chastisement as used in the scriptures may be better understood as correction. In the verse above from Proverbs we are told that as children of God we are not to despise the correction nor get weary of the correction that God gives us.
In the above verse from Deuteronomy we are reminded that God corrects us just as fathers do who love their children. Children and adults alike do not like to give correction or receive correction. In fact most parents and children do not understand the purpose of correction or the necessity of it.
So many parents allow their children to do whatever they want and also give them everything they ask for. This is not showing love because it is not in the best interest of the child. Parents also need to learn today that discipline is necessary to teach a child the difference between right and wrong. Chastisement or discipline was designed by God to correct us and to prevent us from sinning and finally to bless us.
There is a passage from the Old Testament found in Jeremiah 24:5-6 that tells us the story of two baskets of figs. One is a basket of good figs and the other a basket of bad figs. God allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to defeat Jehoikim, the king of Judah because of the sin and disobedience of the Israelites, God’s chosen people. The basket of good figs represented the exiles that were taken from Judah to Babylon which was God’s chastisement on His people for their disobedience. The bad figs represented those who escaped to Egypt or remained in Judah.
The good figs represented the exiles taken to Babylon, not because they were good but because their hearts were responsive to God’s chastisement. God used the captivity to bring them back to a right relationship with God. God blessed them and eventually brought them back to Judah. When God disciplines us it is never without a reason and it always is to accomplish His purpose in our life. The lesson for us is to keep our hearts responsive to God’s fatherly correction to bring us back to a right relationship with Him, and then He will bless us just as He blessed the good exiles.
We read in II Corinthians 12:7-9 how Paul was tormented by Satan with what Paul called a “thorn in the flesh.” Three times Paul prayed and asked God to remove this “thorn in the flesh.” When the Lord did not remove it Paul realized that it was with him to keep him humble and showed him he must depend on the Lord and not on his own abilities. It kept him from the sin of pride. God has designed correction to prevent us from sinning.
In Psalm 94:12 we read that correction comes our way so that we will be blessed. It reads, “Blessed is the man whom You discipline and whom You teach out of Your law.”
Here are three verses to help us further. First, in II Chronicles 6:24-31 we read that God desires that we repent in response to correction. Secondly, In II Corinthians 12:7-10 we are told to show submission to God our Father when we are corrected. Thirdly, in James 4:10 it says to “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.”
Discipline is far from pleasant, but be encouraged --- God corrects those He loves. God loves you as His own child.
Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 57:1.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shower of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by.
Help me to be open to the corrections that You have for me today. May I learn to respond to Your corrections with repentance and submission.
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