Discipline is spelled H-O-P-E

(Proverbs 19:18 KJV)  Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Does this imply that if we don’t “chasten” (discipline NASB) (3256) it means we do not care about our children?  The short answer is, “Yes.”  The long answer is, “Yes, it does!!!!”  Do you see the difference?

We may not like it but discipline is a part of love.  Years ago James Dobson wrote a book, Dare to Discipline.  It has been reprinted many times and an updated edition is available.  People laughed at it when it came out.  I recommend it, the world still laughs at it.  As I talk to parents at school, I can almost see this.  They talk about love and say they care, but they do nothing to teach their children.  They do nothing to enforce standards.  Worse, they do not live as models. 

My children are now independent adults.  I stay in their homes on vacation and let them pick up the check when we go out to eat.  I am proud of them but I am not sanguine about the future.  I can’t do much in the way of enforcing discipline.  I can’t put my son on a chair for fifteen minutes or take away his computer.  But because I live in “hope” (8615) I continue to exert the types of discipline still available to me:  Teaching and example.

So?  No matter how old your children, you are an influence in their lives.  If they follow the Lord, reinforce all the investment you have made.  If they have not embrace Jesus, then live in hope.  The final chapter has not been written yet.

Rabbit Ears Can Be Good

(Proverbs 18:15 KJV)  The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.

The “heart" (mind NASB) (3820) and the “ear” (241) must work together.  The mind will process what it has to work with but it is the ear that determines much of the raw material. 

Are you familiar with the term GIGO?  It means “garbage in, garbage out.”  I believe it comes from the computer world.  Computers can only do what they are programed to do.  If you give them incomplete data or faulty instructions you get incomplete analysis or faulty calculations.  That seems obvious.

The same is true in our spiritual lives.  GIGO.  We are different from computers in that we have a choice about what is input.  Not totally, we have what we call noise pollution, but generally the believer who “seeks” (1245) will find.  Didn’t someone we all heard about say something like that?

So how is your day going?  Did you come to the word today to hear or just out of habit.  If you don’t come seeking there is a good chance you won’t find.

Back Off

(Proverbs 17:14 KJV)  The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

We usually have a choice in whether we get into an argument or not.  There is a tipping point, a line that we cross.  If we are alert we can sense that moment coming and head it off.  Proverbs is telling us that we are to want to avoid the crash, not enjoy the ride.

We are to “leave off": (abandon NASB) (5203) any “contention" (quarrel NASB) (7379) that develops.  I think of how I want to react to attacks and slams on my person.  I am clever.  I can win.  No, drop it.  This is an OT version of turning the other cheek.  We must take the responsibility to stop the escalation. 

You might ask, “What about important issues?”  Good question.  This does not mean to sit like a shrinking violet and never raise a voice.  Remember the words of Peter,

(1 Peter 3:15 KJV)  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Our attitude is key.  We can discuss things, share our reasons.  At the same time realize that human beings rarely change their mind on important issues in one moment.  Somewhere I remember reading that if you can change a person’s mind quickly someone else can change it back just as easily.

So?  Be sensitive to the tension in others.  When it rises, it is probably time for you to back off.  Turn the other cheek in your discussion.  This page will come again.

You’ll Understand When You Are Older

(Proverbs 16:13 KJV)  Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.

I was going to skip this verse.  I honestly don’t know how to deal with it without twisting and squirming to make it conform to my expectations.  I am finding myself questioning the word of God.  I read this and say, “Not in my world.”  I would want to say of “righteous” kings, not all kings.

Another way I squirm is to say maybe they are a “delight” (7522) in ways the king does not understand, like when a parent disciplines a child.  At the time they don’t appreciate it, but later they do.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to me?  He is laughing about how I think I will understand everything.  There are mysteries.  Some mysteries are awesome and beyond my finite mind such as the trinity or the extent of eternity.  Others are like this and just don’t make sense. 

That doesn’t mean I ignore them.  That doesn’t mean I don’t think.  It doesn’t mean I don’t keep trying to figure them out.  It means to extend my faith to things I don’t understand yet.  I teach history.  Seventh graders are always asking, “Why do we need history?”  Most are trying to get me off the subject.  Some actually want to know.  A few might even be able to understand.  I tell them most people don’t begin to understand until they are 30, some not even then.  It doesn’t mean there is no answer.

So?  Keep thinking and questioning but question as a disciple, not a pharisee.  There are answers.  Some are so obvious that when we see them we will give ourselves what is being called a “face palm.”  If I understood everything I might not need a God.

The Oasis Heart

(Proverbs 15:11 KJV)  Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?

Is your heart a place of refreshing to God?  Jesus made it clear that the way of the cross was narrow and that most would take the broad way.  That means that in a land of human hearts, most of what God sees is desert.  Do you represent an oasis for the eyes of God or are you just another sand dune?

An oasis is a place where water is found in the midst of a parched landscape.  Think about the miles and miles of lifeless sand and suddenly there is a tree shaded pool.  The water must be there beneath your feet.  What chain of geological oddities allow it to emerge?  The Holy Spirit stands poised to bring the water of life into your heart on a regular basis.  Unlike the ground, you have a say in the matter. 

How many promises have passed you by because you do not read the word?  How much encouragement have you missed because you are not in regular prayer?  How many wrong turns have you made because you didn’t look for the signs? 

So?  Open your heart to the Holy Spirit.  Make it an oasis for the living God.  Allow Him to set up residence.  He will do the heavy lifting but He expects you to be ready and willing to receive.

The Built-in Death Wish

(Proverbs 14:12 KJV)  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Here we have another recurring theme.  It is an echo of fools laughing at sin in verse 9.  The natural way of fallen man leads only to death. 

This also reflects the words of God to Saul when he was picking a future king from the sons of Jesse.

I Samuel 16:7 But the \Lord\ said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God {sees} not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the \Lord\ looks at the heart."

This verse is repeated at 16:25.

Today’s popular philosophy is “if it feels good, do it.”  For the average man on the street that is just the wrong advise.  Our natural inclination is to deeds of death.  Our natural inclination is to sin.  Only through the blood of Christ can we be made clean.  Only through the presence of the Holy Spirit can we stay clean.  The Holy Spirit can turn this on its head and by listening we can make decisions that lead to life.

So?  Pentecost is coming.  The church emphasizes this to remind us of our need for the Holy Spirit.  Seek Him.  Ask Him to fill you.  Ask him to give you a way that leads to life.  Just as the Nativity pointed toward Calvary, so Calvary points us to Pentecost.

The Wish Hammer

(Proverbs 13:12 KJV)  Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Again, a first reading gives a strange idea.  At first I thought this was a statement against delayed gratification, an encouragement to get it all now.  The second half still gave me that impression.  I know the Bible well enough to know that such an understanding does not fit.  You may have had that experience when working a jig-saw puzzle.  You have a piece that should work, but it just doesn’t fit.  You can get a hammer and force the issue or you can keep looking.  The hammer approach doesn’t work well for people seeking truth.  Let’s try to keep looking.

“Hope” (8431) is a key word.  We need to understand this from the Bible view, not as a political promise that has been used by so many politicians.  Most of the world lives with a hope that is a wish.  That is based on the promises of politicians and manipulators.  As believers we live with a hope that is an assurance.  That hope is based on the character of God.  It is an assurance because of the actions of Jesus on the cross and out of the tomb.  I think that must be what we are looking at. 

So do you live in hope?  Are you on the tree of life?  Or are you one of those who keep finding your hope deferred because you are placing your trust in temporal expectations.  The economy is tanking.  Terrorism is alive and well.  Iran may get the bomb.  I know it.  You know it.  I hope you have the assurance in the middle of all that.