LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Saturday 4th September 2021
DON’T DESPISE GOD’S CORRECTION
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 3
My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:11-12
The God who can be trusted to smooth out obstacles and bring us to His purposes also smooths out and removes our character flaws. He who supplies our material needs also demonstrates His love for us by discipline. If we genuinely believe that the Lord can make the crooked paths straight, we should also believe that He can straighten our crooked lives.
• The Lord chastens us. God’s love for us includes His discipline and training. His training is done with His word. The Lord uses His word to direct us to be upright. He does it similarly to how a farmer ties a plant to a straight rod to align the plant’s growth. God uses His word as a rule to align our behaviour to His ways.
• The Lord corrects us. When our lives go in the wrong direction, the Lord rebukes and punishes us so that we can become the people He wants us to be. God’s corrections are not pleasant to us. When Israel sinned against the Lord, He used several ways to rebuke them and get them back on track. God’s correction is that which straightens us when we become crooked.
When God corrects us, He shows it in ways such as these:
• He can turn His eyes away from us
• He can remove His hand from us
• He can give us into the hand of our enemies
None of these actions from the Lord must be seen as His rejection. They must be seen as His love in action. God shows His love to us by chastening and correcting us. If we are indeed God’s children, He will want us to live our lives in a way that pleases Him.
The warning to us is twofold. The Lord encourages us not to despise nor detest His discipline. We despise and detest God’s chastening when we reject the instruction He gives us or refuse His guidance. Before we see every hardship as a satanic attack, we must pause to find out if it is a correction from the Lord.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know you love me and want the best for me. Help me to receive your discipline and corrections. In Jesus’ name, Amen!