Receive Correction and Instruction

"Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. ⁹ Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning."

Proverbs 9:8-9

God's Word is packed with relevant instruction and also reveals the truth about us.  It does not only tells us what to do but exposes who we are.  In this passage Solomon shows how our response to instruction and correction shows what kind of person we are.  Knowledge is not evidence of being a wise man but a humble and loving response when rebuked - even after we did the wrong thing.  A just and wise man will receive correction gladly and not hold grudges against those who bring faults to light.  Having been rebuked a wise man will love the one who cared enough to speak hard truth more still.

How do you respond to correction, instruction, and rebuke?  I would suspect there is not a person among us who enjoys being proved incorrect or exposed as ignorant.  It is natural and fleshly to despise correction, but the wise man who fears God heeds rebuke even if unwarranted.  When it comes to correction and instruction, during our lives we will often have experiences to both offer and and receive correction.  There is always wisdom to glean as a child of God, and we can learn important truths even from an impure source.  There person who rebukes us may be unloving or incorrect in their assessment, but still provides opportunity for our growth.

Sometimes we learn by observing what to do and at other times what not to do.  Solomon walked by an overgrown field and learned a valuable lesson in Proverbs 24:30-34:  "I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; ³¹ and there it was, all overgrown with thorns; its surface was covered with nettles; its stone wall was broken down. ³² When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction: ³³ a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest; ³⁴ so shall your poverty come like a prowler, and your need like an armed man."  What a blessing the presence of God in our lives, for He instructs and corrects us in ways no other person can.  Others can applaud, and the voice of our conscience rightly condemns because God knows our hearts.

As believers we are instructed by God, yet we should not despise the correction He sovereignly directs from other people.  God might stir a wicked man to chasten us severely - not so we will heed wicked advice - but to expose the pride and folly which lurks unnoticed in our own hearts.  Being treated harshly instructs us how not to correct others if and when we are led to do so.  The Proverbs passage says we ought not correct a scoffer, and there is a time to withhold continual instruction from those who refuse it.  After Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for valuing tradition over the Word of God, thus making it of no effect, the Pharisees were offended.  When their offence was conveyed to Jesus He said in Matthew 15:14:  "Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."

Some people will gratefully heed a warning, but others require instruction only gained by the consequences of a fall.  They scoffed at instruction, so they would be taught by plunging into a boggy ditch.  This interaction shows Jesus at a point allowed people and those they blindly led to fall when they scorned His correction in ignorance.  Their hatred and offence was proof of their folly, and Jesus left them alone in the misguided path of their choosing.  As hard as it can be to utter words of correction and rebuke in love, it may be even harder to leave someone alone knowing they will fall.  Praise the LORD Jesus is the Good Shepherd of the sheep, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He is good to seek and save the lost and downcast where they fall.  He will pull the most wicked among us from the ditch and wash us clean by His grace.  Better to humbly heed and obey our LORD than to be left alone and hopelessly blind.

More Than a Meal

I was blessed to recall the occasion when Queen Esther appeared before King Ahasuerus unannounced at the risk of her own life.  According to the Law of the Medes and Persians, to appear before the king without being first summoned meant the death penalty - unless he extended the royal sceptre.  After three days of prayer and fasting, Esther came before the king and she found favour in his sight.  I wonder if he was surprised what her request was:  that he and Haman (a chief adviser) would come to a banquet of wine.  Really?  Would a sensible person really risk her life over a private banquet?

If you have read the book of Esther, you know there was much more at stake than the king attending a dinner party.  Esther was desperate to save her people, and God raised her up for such a time to use her position of influence and access with the king to plead for deliverance.  Ultimately the scheme and the wicked adversary Haman were exposed and overthrown.  The brave and courageous deeds of Esther will not be forgotten, and I imagine her husband loved and appreciated her more than ever.

It is remarkable how Esther humbled herself, putting her life in her own hands for the sake of her people so they could be saved.  It is far more remarkable what Jesus Christ has done in becoming flesh and dwelling among us, walking throughout Judea and calling disciples to Himself.  He did not only risk His life, but He laid down His life willingly on Calvary's cross so Jews and Gentiles could be saved for eternity and receive everlasting life.  He is the one who is patient and loving to stand at the door of the hearts of lukewarm Christians and bid them open unto to Him so He can come in a dine.  Wouldn't it be something to host Jesus Christ at your dinner table?  How much more intimate to have the presence of God within us, speaking words of wisdom, grace and truth!

Jesus cried out that if any is thirsty, they should come to Him and drink of the Living Water He supplies.  He does not do so to quench our temporary thirst, but so we will be satisfied and sustained by faith in Him alone.  Esther had a bigger scope in appearing before Ahasuerus than sharing a drink together, and Jesus has a far greater purpose in supplying His broken body and shed blood than fleeting feelings of happiness:  He desires to be our life everyday and forever!  Let us put to death wickedness and throw aside the weights which easily weigh us down, and then we can walk unhindered in our pursuit of our Saviour.  How great it is to have Jesus as Saviour and King, the lover of our souls!

Holding God's Hand

I saw a disheartening sight the other day.  A grown man was holding hands with a little girl, walking her to school.  Now what's wrong with that, you might ask?  What should have been an endearing and sweet scene was reversed by the man's other hand holding a phone.  As they walked in the bright sunshine under shady gum trees, he was transfixed on his screen while the little girl in a school uniform stared blankly and silently ahead.  The sad image has remained with me.

All manner of thoughts went through my head.  I wondered if the little girl saw the phone as an intruder on a friendly chat she could have with her dad.  Though quite young, I also wondered if the child was resigned to the phone's presence in the hand of her guardian and escort.  Maybe she saw it as a grown-up thing and was looking forward to having a phone too.  "Talk to your little one!" I thought to myself.  They were holding hands but distant, and that fleeting vision has weighed heavy ever since.

I then began to think about my own life and how persistent the impulse can be to immerse yourself in a digital wonderland of information, amusement, and areas of personal interest instead of interacting with real, present people.  Am I present when I walk with my wife, sons, and friends?  Do my devices have a grip on my life which rob me of opportunities to love others?  And even more important, are screens and devices a wedge between me and God?  It would be easy to reverse the picture as an illustration of us and God:  people are like the little girl focused on a screen whilst our Father holds our hand and accompanies us wherever we go.  He does not force Himself on us, and He waits most patiently.  Are we pleased to hold His hand for security and say "Bye!" with a quick smile as we head off on our day, or are we willing to leave the phone alone and see what He wants to talk about?

The wonderful thing is even when we rush off into life, when we are ready to seek the LORD He will be right near because He has been seeking us.  This shouldn't affect us by taking advantage of His love, grace, and patience, but we should value Him above all others.  I love the old hymn which paints the picture of God who walks and talks with me and tells me I am His own.  This is the intimacy God desires to cultivate with us, and in response we ought to rejoice in such a privilege.  May our eyes be fixed on Him and our hearts filled with awe and reverence for Him.  That God would hold our hand and draw us near to Himself!  What joy and rest we have in Him!

Our Sovereign God

Recognising God's sovereignty is a source of peace in the midst of trouble.  When things are difficult we can feel under attack, and we can wonder what the source of our struggles are.  Is it a spiritual attack?  Does Satan or demons have me in their sights?  Am I experiencing the consequences of sin, or am I simply wrestling with my own negative feelings and thoughts?

When Israel was laid waste by armies from Assyria and Babylon, Jeremiah did not credit physical or spiritual foes with their destruction:  he laid the responsibility for their defeat squarely upon God.  He did not blame God as an evildoer as some do, but Jeremiah recognised their plight as a result of the chastening of a holy, righteous God.  Nebuchadnezzar was a mighty king, but God called him His servant.  It was shocking to the Jews God would utilise a Gentile king to do His will, but God remains sovereign over all.  His ways are higher and good, infinitely better than ours.

Crediting God with the destruction of Israel did not move Jeremiah to hate or forsake God, but drove him to seek God with tears.  See what Jeremiah said in Lamentations 2:1-5, and this is a small portion of his lament:  "How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger! He cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and did not remember His footstool in the day of His anger. ² The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied all the dwelling places of Jacob. He has thrown down in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its princes. ³ He has cut off in fierce anger every horn of Israel; He has drawn back His right hand from before the enemy. He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire devouring all around. ⁴ Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow; with His right hand, like an adversary, He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye; on the tent of the daughter of Zion, He has poured out His fury like fire. ⁵ The Lord was like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel, He has swallowed up all her palaces; He has destroyed her strongholds, and has increased mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah."

God did exactly as He warned His people through His Word and prophets, but they would not hear.  What is remarkable is why God did this to His own people whom He loved:  He did not chasten them to destroy them, but so they might be restored.  How far they had drifted from God through their idolatry and brought upon themselves this great fall and demise!  In forsaking the LORD they abandoned all hope, but in humble repentance they would without doubt flourish again.  God would bring back His inheritance into the land with rejoicing, and He would plant them where He had established His name.  Jeremiah wisely did not credit the devil or the armies of enemies as the cause of their pains but the God who reigns over heaven and earth, the Judge before every knee will bow.  It is in surrender to God where peace, hope, and salvation begin.

People who have problems with God need to realise they have problems only He can fix; they have wounds only God can heal; they have folly only God can redeem.  Proverbs 3:11-12 says, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; ¹² for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights."  God's means of chastening often involve pain, and our response shows if we truly trust Him and value His active love as we ought.