Altering the Wrong Course

 “My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son He receiveth.”  (Hebrews 12:5–6)

Why do parents correct their children? Love (Proverbs 13:24). Why does God discipline us? Love (Proverbs 3:11–12).

 If you are a product of “good old-fashioned” spankings, your parents or caretakers were firm believers in punishment for wrongdoing. When they found you guilty, corrective acts followed. Or, you may innocently have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and swept up in a “group discipline” (it can happen when you have siblings). When traveling with my family as a child, it was never a good thing when my daddy parked the car on the side of the road when my siblings and I continued our rowdiness after warnings. He would open the door, get out of the car to find, and cut a long, green, slender stem from a bush. After lining us in a row, he proceeded with “a switching.” Did he intend to hurt or scar? Not at all. Did he intend to sting and make a lasting statement? Yes, and it worked for me! It did not take many trips to learn how to avoid that switch. Discipline was a matter of importance and never taken lightly.

God, our Father, loves us deeply, so much so that He will “spank” or “take a switch to” us when necessary. After His warnings, sometimes, because of our rebellion and stubbornness, drastic measures are needed. And our loving Father will do whatever it takes for us to choose His way instead of ours. Altering the wrong course in life is the only way to head in the right direction.

I never doubted my parents’ love for me, and I know God’s love for me is more incredible than my mind can imagine. I don’t question His discipline nor doubt His love because He is never wrong and always wants His best for me. And He wants the same for you.