THINK TOGETHER.
Is your house restful?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 29:17. Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
An important truth that all of us must understand is that we are all born as sinners. We all come into the world with selfish and greedy hearts. This is why we all need discipline, especially when we are young. I have two young grandchildren, and I can see how their mom and dad discipline them. And I don’t just mean punish them, that is just one small part of discipline. They discipline by teaching and guiding. They teach them how to take naps. How to go on the potty. How to share. How to be safe outside. How to chew their food before swallowing it.
What would happen if parents didn’t teach their children all these things? Well, as our proverb says, they wouldn’t have any rest or delight. What if a twelve-year-old was still wearing diapers, needed their food chopped up, had to always hold a hand outside to be safe, and could never share anything with others? Does that sound silly? Of course. But that’s what would happen without discipline. And that would not be a very restful or delightful experience for anyone, would it?
These same things are true of God too. God is our Heavenly Father. He loves us. And because he loves us, he disciplines us. But God doesn’t just discipline us, he also disciplined Jesus for us. Jesus grew up too. Jesus was a baby who had to learn how to take naps, be safe, share, chew, use the potty. God gave Jesus parents (Mary and Joseph) to teach him all these things, and much more. God the Father also taught Jesus how to love and be loved, how to obey all his commandments. And Jesus did it all. Perfectly! He never sinned. But even though he never sinned, he was punished for our sin on the cross. Now when we receive Jesus we receive all of his perfect obedience, and all of our sins have already been punished. Wow. That’s good news. Now, with Jesus, we can all have rest and delight in simply trusting and loving God as he disciplines us all throughout our life.
Because of Jesus all our sins have been punished and all his obedience is ours.
With Jesus we can trust God’s discipline that brings rest and delight.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Talk more about the Think Together question. Is your home a place of rest and delight, or chaos and stress? How might you work together to reduce any chaos?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, I want you to control my life. Your discipline is good. I trust you. Amen.
TLICfamily 