Love that Corrects - Day 211 Month 7-29 Week 31-1
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
2 Samuel 6:12-7:17, Proverbs 13:1-9, Ezekiel 16:22-42, Romans 8:1-25
Love that Corrects
Something caught my attention in our reading from 2 Samuel this morning, so I'm stepping away from Romans for a day.
I've mentioned before that following Jesus is not always easy, and it isn't. Sometimes our struggles come because we choose to live differently from the culture around us. Sometimes they are simply part of living in a broken world where our bodies fail and life is hard. Sometimes our own poor decisions create painful consequences. There are also times when God lovingly corrects us to bring us back to Him.
In 2 Samuel 7, God speaks to David through the prophet Nathan. David wanted to build a temple for God, but God told him that it would not be David who built it. Instead, God said of David's descendant, “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:13).
The next part of the passage is what really caught my attention.
God says, “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me. When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him” (2 Samuel 7:14 and 15).
Like a loving parent who disciplines a child to guide them back onto the right path, God disciplines those He loves. His correction is not evidence that He has abandoned us. It is evidence that He still cares for us.
I learned something about that in Grade 3.
One day, a friend and I played hookey instead of going to school. I knew it was wrong, and when my father found out, he chose a punishment that fit the offence. For the same amount of time I had skipped school, I had to dig dandelions out of our yard. Not just pull the tops off, but dig out the entire root with a shovel.
Needless to say, I never skipped school again... until high school.
The nation of Israel experienced God's discipline as well. After repeatedly turning away from Him to worship other gods, they were eventually taken into captivity in Babylon for seventy years. Yet God did not abandon them. He remained faithful to His promises and eventually brought them home.
In Ezekiel 16:42, God says, “So I will calm My fury against you and My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be pacified and angry no more.”
His discipline had a purpose, and it was never meant to be permanent.
I'm thankful that God's love is not expressed only through comfort. Sometimes His love is expressed through correction. Like a good father, He disciplines us because He loves us and wants to draw us back to Himself.
Have a great day!
Steve
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