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Day 255 Proverbs 23:13 Proverbs 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. 15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. 16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. 17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. 18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. 19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. 20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. 22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. 23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. 24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begets a wise child shall have joy of him. 25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. 26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. One fear many people have today is abuse. Parents are afraid to discipline their children for fear someone will call the authorities on them and they will lose their children, and they will be labeled as abusive. It wasn’t always like that. When I was a child, my parents were not afraid to discipline me. It wasn’t abusive to do so, and it kept me on the straight and narrow. No one called the police because I got a spanking. No one reported the teacher for slapping me because it wasn’t abusive. The only thing that hurt was my dignity. Children didn’t tell their friends about the spanking they got either. It was a private matter. Abuse is not discipline. Abuse can kill. Discipline doesn’t kill. Discipline lets you know what is right and wrong so you will not go down the wrong path in life. Along with discipline was instruction. Solomon wrote this section to his son. He instructed him in the proper lifestyle to follow so his son would not bring shame to him or his mother. How often in your childhood were you admonished not to bring shame to your parents? They taught you what they expected of you, and when you displayed a proper upbringing, they were proud of you and the achievements you made. Today, children display a lack of discipline. Children have no idea what a spanking is. They do whatever they want, whenever they want, without any consequences for their behavior. They are the product of parents who got the upper hand over their parents when a new bill came into being in 1975 that outlawed spanking, and called all forms of discipline abuse and told people that if they saw this form of discipline to report it to the authorities. Children were taken from their homes and government agencies raised their children. The kind of instruction children received was that it was okay to express themselves however they saw fit without any fear of correction or discipline. Solomon told his son not to envy sinners, but to maintain a healthy and constant fear of the LORD, a fear based on reverence and awe of the power and glory of God his Father. He told his son not to envy sinners because God would bring justice upon them. God will bring justice on anyone who does whatever they want without respect to the other person. God has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God said he would judge everyone for the sin in their lives, for the abandonment to do whatever they wanted without consequence. The problem society has is that they don’t believe God will discipline them or carry out his judgment against them for their irrational behavior. 2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (KJV) To put the King James into today’s English, here is a translation from the Bible in Basic English 2 Timothy 3:1 But be certain of this, that in the last days times of trouble will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, uplifted in pride, given to bitter words, going against the authority of their fathers, never giving praise, having no religion, 3 Without natural love, bitter haters, saying evil of others, violent and uncontrolled, hating all good, 4 False to their friends, acting without thought, lifted up in mind, loving pleasure more than God; 5 Having a form of religion, but turning their backs on the power of it: go not with these. 6 For these are they who go secretly into houses, making prisoners of foolish women, weighted down with sin, turned from the way by their evil desires, 7 Ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of what is true. (BBE) This describes the world today. There is no fear of God in their lives. Notice it says they have no religion. If people have no religion, they have no fear of God and do whatever their heart desires. Solomon told his son to stay away from people like that. As Christians, you do your best to raise your children to fear, or reverence, God, to give him glory and praise, teaching them to have respect of their elders and discipline them as best you can with care to what the government stated about discipline. As parents, you need to put your trust and faith in God to raise godly children who will be a blessing to you and not bring you shame. Let’s pray: Father, help me trust you when it comes to raising my children to bring you praise and glory, giving respect to their elders. Let my children be a blessing to me and not be a source of shame. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 22 May 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay