When I was reading today’s Proverb, something really caught my attention. Have you noticed there is a Proverb for each day of the month?  Do you think there’s a reason for that?  Sure!  God has a purpose in everything, and in this case, it’s to educate His kids.  You ARE one of His kids, right?  Then let’s get some education today:

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Pro 3:13  Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Pro 3:14  For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
Pro 3:15  She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Pro 3:16  Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
Pro 3:17  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Pro 3:18  She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

I don’t think anyone likes being corrected.  It’s a pride thing, you know?  We always want to think we’re right.  But the LORD has reasons for correcting us: first off, He doesn’t want His kids to be stupid; secondly, He doesn’t want His kids destroying people or things that He put here for us.  Notice I said “things that He put here for us”.  God didn’t put the devil’s stuff here for His kids, nor does He expect His kids to be partakers of the devil’s kingdom.

Well, sometimes kids will be kids, and we parents all know if you tell a kid to stay out of the cookie jar, then that’s the first place they will be into the moment you turn your back on them.  If YOUR child disobeys you, will you do nothing?  Well, in all fairness, SOME parents do nothing, or else they will threaten but not follow through, so after a while a wayward child no longer fears any consequences for his or her actions.  And we all know what happens then: you end up with a rebellious kid that is no good to anyone, who goes through life making a mess everywhere they go.  Sadly, the parents could have avoided that, had boundaries been established at an early age.  And though there are rebellious kids that will not respond to discipline no matter what you do, they are few and far between.

God is a wonderful parent, who does indeed chastise His kids, so as to bring them up in love, so that they become productive adults. I once heard a story about a farmer who had a mule.  A visitor came and the farmer was showing off his mule, when he grabbed a 2×4 and cracked the mule hard across the head.  He said, “This mule can do a lot of work, but you have to get its attention first.” I think that’s true about many of us: we could do a great work for the Kingdom of God, but sometimes the pull of the things of the world distract us, and God has to get our attention before He can make much out of us.

Now pay attention here: I’m not saying God hurts His kids to get their attention.  I’m saying, kids left to themselves without discipline will destroy themselves.  When you read from the above Proverb,  he first thing you’ll notice is that God corrects those in whom He DELIGHTS.  And if we accept that correction, we become the wiser for it, and wisdom will get you anything you need in life.  Wisdom is the principal thing: it will teach you peace, love, blessings, prosperity, and joy.  Wisdom will teach you how to take care of the body that God created for you so you aren’t sick from living on junk foods.  Wisdom will teach you how to stay out of debt.  Wisdom will teach you patience and understanding.  God puts much emphasis on wisdom, and He wants us to have it.  He said wisdom’s ways are peace and pleasantness.  Now we ALL want peace and pleasantness, so you’d think we would look forward to God’s correction so we could all find that path.  But not so.

Some are just plain rebellious by nature, and the more rebellious we are, the bigger the correction must be to bring us into the place we really need to be.  I’ve had a few lumps in my lifetime, and I’m sure you have too.  If my mom had to spank me, she always said, “This is going to hurt me more than it will you.” But my dad?  He made the point of saying, “This is going to hurt you more than me.” And it did, too….OWWWW! But I got the message.  If I wasn’t corrected by words, then the Board of Education got the job done.  And wisdom was imparted to me.  Wisdom is a wonderful thing: it tells you DON’T DO THAT AGAIN!  And if you’re getting smarter, you won’t.

Does God ever allow us to go through unpleasant things to get our attention?  He will if we won’t listen to His Words, but He would FAR prefer we just listen and obey.  We have the prime examples of what Israel went through in the Old Testament when they disobeyed God.  Now keep in mind, God delighted in blessing Israel, and brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey and blessings.  But when they got full of blessings and got arrogant and left off obeying God’s laws, God had to break out the 2×4, and more than once.  You know, WE COULD AVOID CORRECTION if we would simply learn from Israel’s mistakes, and obey God’s Words.  But NOOOOOOO, we gotta learn the hard way, just like Israel did.  It seems people delight in seeing how far they can stray from God and still have His blessings.

Take for example the laws of the land that the leaders vote in: are they in alignment with God’s Word?  No?  Then what’s going to happen?  A good parent always warns their child to straighten up and do what they’ve been taught.  God has warned us to repent from our evil ways and do what’s right.  The days of warning are over.  That being ignored, it will be a trip to the wood shed where the 2×4 is stored.  I need not tell you, that 2×4 will be wielded until we get “WISDOM”!  I hope it doesn’t take long before we “wise up” and are all ready to obey God and return to the land of plenty of blessings.