Proverbs 22-24

Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.

We were talking the other day about how hard it must be to discipline a child. In order to consistently discipline a child day after day takes so much patience and love from the parents. How much easier is it, when a child misbehaves, for the parents to just let it go? No one needs to teach a child how to misbehave. When a child is disciplined, the parents really do, little by little, saves him or her from a life of destruction.

I was thinking about our Heavenly Father's disciplining of us. As his beloved child, do I welcome his discipline? Do I see it as his love for me, rather than hate?

I realize that I am never fully aware of what I am doing. I may think I am wise, but God always proves me wrong. I may think I am not susceptible to certain sins, but this, too, God proves me wrong.

This is what makes me his child and him my Heavenly Father. He knows what is good for me. And as a child, I am unwise and always in need of instructions.

A child is disciplined so he or she can be directed in the right direction. Am I aware this day that without God's discipline, I am headed toward destruction? The question is am I willing this day to accept God discipline and direction for my life? Am I willing to repent of the wrong path I may have taken, and surrender to his love and mercy?

What is awesome about God is that he can use the mistakes I have made and use them for good. But for him to do that, I need to admit to him that I have made a mistake. And one of his "rod", I think, is that he withhold his blessing from me until I repent. And to not have God in my life is always a dreadful experience. I get depressed, fearful, look for comfort in other things, etc. My life really does become a life headed for destruction.

But I realize that I can never run away from God. His love will always catch up to me no matter how far I resist. His love truly endures forever:)