Women With Gods Heartbeat

Devotion

5-12-10

Not to Tell = Hate

Proverbs 19:18

“Discipline your son (or daughter) while there is hope, and do not desire his death.”

 

Wow those are some strong words in Proverbs 19:18. It implies that there is a time when there will be no hope for disciplining our children.  What is that time the verse is referring to? Is it simply that our children can get to a point of hopelessness in being disciplined?  What is discipline?  And then the verse dares to say, “And do not desire his (or her) death.” Now what parent desires the death of their child?  I sure don’t!  In fact I would fight to the death for my child’s life as I am sure you would do as well.  So what does the verse really mean to us as parents?  God never puts anything in His word that does not have a deeper spiritual meaning than the fleshly meaning we so often attach to it.  So let’s examine the verse more closely and see if we can glean the value and the depth of what God is saying to us.

 

When the Lord is speaking of discipline He is not only referring to physical discipline, but also to spiritual discipline; the training of our children in God’s word, sharing about the works of His hands in our lives and in the world, leading them to a saving knowledge of God’s mercy and showing them the gift of salvation through His Son. Preparing our children to live a life of service to our Lord, equipping them with the tools to be godly men and women, and giving them guidelines and boundaries, so they don’t step out of the plan of the Lord shows them we love them.

 

“While there is still hope” this phrase is to remind us that God will not strive with us forever.  There will come a day when He will return and only those who have received Christ will be called to go with Him to heaven.  As parents we have the hope that our Lord is merciful and desires that all come to repentance, but we also must accept the hard reality that the hope we have in Christ Jesus is not accepted by all.  We as parents need to be praying, disciplining, training, preparing and leading our children to the Lord.  It is a serious issue and the next phrase of the verse reveals just how serious it is. “And do not desire his death.”  Now is this talking about a physical death?  I believe it is talking about an eternal death, separated from Him forever.  If we do not purposefully tell our own children about Jesus so they can live forever in Heaven, than we are pretty much stating that we hate our child and would be happy for them to go to hell. That’s right, I said hell.

 

We as believers must come to an understanding of the wandering lost souls in the world and perhaps within your own home.  It could be a spouse, a child, a sibling or a parent. Nevertheless the Lord is reminding us that apart from His hope we are destine for death.  His hope brings life! As a mother, my children’s salvation is the top desire of my heart.

I love them too much NOT TO TELL them about the hope of Jesus.