Wisdom's Corner
You Should Love Chastening

I remember when I was a boy. There were times when I would do things that my father or mother had told me not to do. Or I would get into something that they had told me to stay out of.

When they found out what I had done, I would get a spanking. If my mother caught me while my father was not home, she would spank me. And then I would have to wait until my father was home. Sometimes he spanked me too.

Now I have to admit that I did not like to get spanked. It was not fun. It was not enjoyable. And usually it hurt enough that I knew I would not do again whatever it was that had caused me to get the spanking.

Sometimes I did not get a spanking. Sometimes my parents would talk very sternly to me. They would impress upon me how wrong I had been. I have to be honest. I did not even like some of those stern "talking-to" moments.

But now I know that my parents were doing what they were supposed to do. And I appreciate what my parents did for me. They loved me. They were trying to save me from physical and spiritual dangers. They were trying to instill in me a desire to do right.

In Hebrews 12:5-7 we read, "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, 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 whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

Be happy that your parents chasten you. God says that means they love you. And God says that he chastens us as well. If we disobey His words, we will live with the consequences. We obey our earthly parents. We should even more obey our Heavenly Father -- "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Hebrews 12:9).

Until next time, study God's Word. Find out how to obey Him. Keep reading and learning about what He wants you to do. And from now on, remember, when your parents chastise you, it means they love you. If any of this is hard to understand, get an adult to help you.

Mark McWhorter

Copyright 1999

Published by The Old Paths Bible School
(http://www.oldpaths.org)