A certain farmer sent his son and a hired hand to work in his field. They decided to take the afternoon off and go swimming in the lake. When the farmer returned he took action. What he did seemed to be more severe on his son than it was on the hired help. He paid the hired man and fired him. He didn’t pay his son a cent, and took him to the wood shed. (A few readers may be old enough to remember what happened in the wood shed)
Does that seem unfair? Does it seem that he dealt more harshly with his son that with the hired help? If you think so, you are wrong. He fired the hired man and sent him away. He chastened his son and took him home with him. He still buys his clothes, provided housing, and the boy still sits his feet under dad’s table. The father is raising up his son to be a productive citizen. He corrected the son because he loved him.
God is a Father. He is in the business of child rearing. All born again people are his children. God is good all the time. His very essence is love. He does not withhold any good thing from us. He loves us enough to not let us get away with anything. Our blessings come from Him. He said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” (Rec. 3:19) Then He said, “Be zealous therefore and repent.”
When one of His children does wrong, He first rebukes. If they don’t repent, then He chastens. If they stubbornly continue in sin, they will face judgement. Finally, they will face eternal loss of rewards at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Will you be blessed or judged? You decide!
J.T. Parish is the Founding Pastor of Christian Fellowship Church. He further serves on the Church Leadership Council, as Chairman of the Board of World Missions and Evangelism, and as President of the School of Ministry.