Verse of the Day - Proverbs 15:10

Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.
~ Proverbs 15:10 (NIV)

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Since I have family in Seattle and we used to visit every summer when I was a kid, I remember a couple of visits to Seattle Center, home of the 1962 World's Fair and the Space Needle. One unassuming attraction for me as a kid was the little car I could drive by myself (with a parent with me, of course). It seems as if I can remember driving it as a very little kid (although memory may not be serving me correctly), but I definitely remember driving as a pre-teen. By then, I understood that there are rails that keep the car on the path, and that it really didn't matter what you did with the steering wheel -- you could take a nap behind the wheel and still not crash. :-) But the funny thing was that I still tried real hard, because I thought, you never know...you could still crash if you don't drive between the lines. It was something I wasn't willing to bet on, so I kept my hands on the wheel and kept my car between the rails.

Life and humanity are like that like amusement attraction. There are laws in place that, if we break them, can reap negative consequences. Break the speed limit, get a ticket. Smoke cigarettes, get lung cancer. Embezzle money, go to prison. If you stay within the lines and play by the rules of nature and society, you are more likely not to experience negative consequences.

And God's spiritual laws are likewise. They are in place for several reasons. One is to keep us alive and out of danger. Another is that those who follow Him need to follow righteousness, because that is His essence. Wickedness that evil exudes is from the devil. Pure good vs. pure evil. Like oil and water. They don't mix, and God says His children shouldn't mix either, because He detests evil and everything about it. His children need to stay between the lines of righteousness for His name's sake. Because His heart breaks and His indignation rises to see wickedness in action in His children. He will take action to keep His kids between the lines, not only for their protection, but because His pure character compels it.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we should long for righteousness and detest evil like our Heavenly Father does. But we have this Jekyll/Hyde thing going on within us that causes us to want to take our hands off the wheel and see if maybe our life car will go outside the rails. Or worse, we veer directly into the rails 'cause we get tired of the same old, seemingly boring, righteous track and try to head out on our own path of wickedness. God says I hate wickedness with all that is in Me, and I can't allow My children to advance in it. I love them too much for that type of spiritual masochism. And so I discipline those I love, to help them get back on the righteous track. You may hate Me because I love you, but that doesn't stop Me from disciplining my kids, from doing what a Father sometimes has to do. I really want My children to come to the point that they love what I love, and hate what I hate...

The book of Proverbs constantly highlights good behavior versus evil behavior -- the yin and the yang, if you will. The reason is that God knows we need it drilled into our heads of what the difference is and why it's so important for us to cling to the good, because we often let the canvas go grey between the two or we willfully head into the darkness. God wants us to know that it's dangerous for us, in both the physical and spiritual worlds.

May we daily seek cleansing from our straying into evil territory and ask God to give us a passion for righteousness. Not because it saves us, because it doesn't . . . but because righteousness brings us into alignment with God's heart, which pleases Him and brings Him glory.

Be a good God kid, and keep your life car between the rails of God's righteousness. No one wants a spiritual car wreck, do they? (psst...it's messy and painful, even if you do have insurance.)

Love,
Joelene