2 minute read.
Daily Reading: Genesis 13:5-15:21 ESV, Matthew 5:27-48 ESV, Psalm 6:1-10 ESV, Proverbs 1:29-33 ESV
Daily Verse: “O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.” (Psalm 6:1 ESV)
YAKACH (3198): “To be right (i.e., correct). To decide, prove, convince, judge. Whom the Lord corrects he delighteth (Prov. 3:12).”[i]
God’s love corrects.
David, the author of Psalm 46, thinks God’s turned away from him because of his sin. Begging God not to react in anger, David pleads for mercy. We don’t know what David did, only that he feels the brokenness in his relationship with God. Our misdeeds cause separation, but correction reunites.
When I was a child, my brother and I stole penny candy from my uncle’s store. I remember begging dad for mercy when he learned of our crime. Dad’s punishment, we had to return the stolen treats and apologize to our uncle. The lesson we learned that night stopped me from stealing again. I can still feel the humiliation of standing before my uncle, confessing my sin. I understood, dad still loved me, but consequences existed for our actions.
Rebuking causes growth.
Since I grew up in church, I’ve heard the word “rebuke” often; thinking of it as a negative term. No one enjoys correction; at least, I don’t think people do. However, without course changes, we’ll never grow. God loves us and wants us to become new creations as we follow Him, leaving our old ways behind.
If my dad didn’t bust us for stealing from my uncle’s store, would I have continued my life of crime? Thankfully, I don’t know the answer to the question. Dad did discover our sin and, with love, made us endure the consequences. Because he cared, dad punished us. As a result, my brother and I learned a valuable lesson we carried with us the rest of our lives.
Too often, we blame God for punishing us, but we are the ones who sinned. Actions have consequences. Even though we may suffer from our choices, God never stops loving us. Our heavenly Father wants us to learn from our mistakes. Sometimes, the only way we grow happens with correction.
[i] [i] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. (p. 113) Thomas Nelson
