Punishment

I think it was God who instituted punishment. Punishment is “the infliction of a penalty as retribution for an offence”.  In other words, if I get caught speeding and have to pay a fine, which is my punishment. Punishment in my experience is mostly painful. I’ve been punished for stupid behavior in a myriad of ways.  God deals out punishment and often tells about it first. Check this out…..

 Before the king of Egypt attacked the city of Gaza, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is to the Philistine people.

2 This is what the Lord says:

“See, the enemy is gathering in the north like rising waters.


    They will become like an overflowing stream
and will cover the whole country like a flood,


    even the towns and the people living in them.
Everyone living in that country


    will cry for help; the people will cry painfully. (Jeremiah 47:1-2 NCV)

 I remember when I was told that punishment was imminent. I’d be sent to my room to “think about what I’d done” and Dad would be in there to deal out punishment. I hated the time in my room to “think about it”. I was repentant and sorry for what I’d done, but I knew I was still getting a “board of education applied to the seat of understanding”!  My parents wanted it to be clear what they were punishing me for.  I actually used that tactic with my kids. I didn’t realize at the time that God often told the people about to be punished what it was for.

I want to learn to listen to His guidance for my life so that I not the one who is being punished. I want to sit at the table of the Lord and discuss my day in peace because I walked in the boundaries He’s set for me.

 Pressing On!

Dwayne