Wait ’til your father gets home!

Ahhhh….I remember those words coming from my mother’s mouth as if it was yesterday. I’m reminded of an old George Carlin routine where he talks of his mother telling him to go to his room and wait for his father to come home. George then thinks out loud by saying, “My room…that’s where all of my STUFF is!” So, he turns what his mother has intended to be a form of punishment into an opportunity to play with all of his “stuff”.

In my case, I was in my room with my stuff, but I was more concerned about what sort of punishment my dad would hand out. Would I be grounded? Would I get a stern warning? Or, worst case…spanked! Having said that, I would rather have the quick and temporary sting of a spanking than to endure the long torturous 2-week grounding that seemed like eternity. Sometimes I had a choice of punishment other times I did not. My father’s hope was that I would learn from my mistakes and not repeat them.

As an adult, the world in which I live has now become “my room” with all of “my stuff”. Though my earthly father is still alive and I still love and respect him, it is my heavenly Father to whom I have become accountable. My mistakes, bad decisions and things in “my room” along with “my stuff” all detract from my relationship with God. My prayer is that through His discipline and correction I will only have to endure the temporary sting rather than the eternal grounding from His kingdom of glory.

Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.