Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Jan. 6, 2012

“A Father’s Love”
“It’s the child He loves that God corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this." – Proverbs 3:12 (The Message)

Harry Emerson Fosdick once said, “No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No steam or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.” Emerson underscored two truths here. First, some things can be controlled by external forces—horses, steam engines, and giant rivers, for example. Each of these has intrinsic power, but when controlled by external forces, impressive results can be achieved. Race horses can be trained to run at amazing speeds in a one-and-and-eighth-mile race. Steam engines can generate incredible thrust when built into giant locomotives. And uncontrolled rivers can be forced through huge turbines that produce mega electrical power. Left to do their own thing, each of these would be mere footnotes in the pages of history. Second, Emerson said that in humans, internal controls are the only controls that last. External controls (by parents and others in authority) may be able to force certain types of behavior in children. But such behavioral modification will be short-lived. On the other hand, self-control learned through instruction and discipline will last. Emerson concluded, “No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.” And those results come through instruction that is internally applied.
For those of you who needed some correction now and then as a child, didn’t you hate hearing the words; “This is going to hurt me more that it is going to hurt you.” Yeah, right! As a parent, those words actually carried greater truth than I would have ever imagined. I came to realize that when my mother “corrected” me it was not because she wanted to but because she needed to! For me to see the error of my ways meant that I had to discover that there are consequences to wrong actions! I could not see that or understand that until I was placed in the same position. For the same token when my children were sick or hurt I wanted so much to relieve their pain – I would have in a moment’s notice taken their pain if it were at all possible so they could have relief.
This is how I have come to see God’s love and discipline. A rather obscure verse that brings this to light is found in the book of Ezekiel. It says this:
“…I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” – Ezekiel 33:11 (NIV)

What better illustration could God give than that of His one and only Son – given as a token of His love that – given to redeem humanity of the nature of sin that causes us to so easily to do and say things that break the Father’s heart. Through His Son, He tells us that He is willing to take upon Himself the sin of the world – just to correct our ways!
If you see God’s ways as too “restrictive,” then take a second look. It is coming from a Father’s heart – wanting His children to do what is right for the right reasons.
Pastor J. T. Carnell