Proverbs 13:24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son:
But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
The word for “betimes’ in the Hebrew text is ‘in his youth’.
He that spareth his rod hateth his son:
But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
The word for “betimes’ in the Hebrew text is ‘in his youth’.
Many of us can certainly agree that a child needs to be regularly and appropriately chastised in his youth if he is to grow into a responsible and mature human being. The problem is that for that to happen, his parents have to be intimately involved in his life. Many teenagers today claim independence when they haven’t really earned it. Independence can be only granted once a child pays his own bills; until then he is a dependant and has to live under the ‘golden rule’:he that has the gold, makes the rule (pun intended).
In order for parents to be intimately involved in their child’s life, the child has to be home and educated by the parents. Sad to say, today’s western society makes it very difficult. Parents feel that they each need a job to keep up, so they send their children to public school. As a result, children receive their educated from an ungodly system and they derive their values from their peers, which becomes a case of the ‘blind leading the blind.’ To top it all, after a long week of hard work, parents want to relax. Ass a result, the child spends most of his time watching TV, playing cyber-games, listening to his music, on the phone or visiting friends. He is really only physically home, and his parents only correct him when he gets in their way. Our next generation will be interesting, to say the least.
Our statement needs also be understood on a corporate level. Jews, and our author is a Jew, always referred themselves as children of God. Paul reinforces the idea by mentioning that those believers grafted into the Covenant of Israel are adopted, and also become children of God. Throughout history, Israel has certainly received its share of correcting for its sins; it is probably ready now to receive again the favor of the Father. Paul explained his troubled ministry to timothy saying that, all those who live in a godly fashion in the Messiah shall receive tribulations. Trials and tribulations are God’s intolerable compliments. They are the marks in our flesh that make us sons and not bastards.
Let us not therefore despise the discipline of the Father. Let us not loathe His reproof. For whom the Father loves He reproves, as a Father the son whom He delights in.
In order for parents to be intimately involved in their child’s life, the child has to be home and educated by the parents. Sad to say, today’s western society makes it very difficult. Parents feel that they each need a job to keep up, so they send their children to public school. As a result, children receive their educated from an ungodly system and they derive their values from their peers, which becomes a case of the ‘blind leading the blind.’ To top it all, after a long week of hard work, parents want to relax. Ass a result, the child spends most of his time watching TV, playing cyber-games, listening to his music, on the phone or visiting friends. He is really only physically home, and his parents only correct him when he gets in their way. Our next generation will be interesting, to say the least.
Our statement needs also be understood on a corporate level. Jews, and our author is a Jew, always referred themselves as children of God. Paul reinforces the idea by mentioning that those believers grafted into the Covenant of Israel are adopted, and also become children of God. Throughout history, Israel has certainly received its share of correcting for its sins; it is probably ready now to receive again the favor of the Father. Paul explained his troubled ministry to timothy saying that, all those who live in a godly fashion in the Messiah shall receive tribulations. Trials and tribulations are God’s intolerable compliments. They are the marks in our flesh that make us sons and not bastards.
Let us not therefore despise the discipline of the Father. Let us not loathe His reproof. For whom the Father loves He reproves, as a Father the son whom He delights in.
No comments:
Post a Comment