MARCH 26 – Happy is the man
Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
Punishment looks to the past and past deeds. It looks to the law that was broken and the penalty of punishment that the infraction brings. Chastisement looks to the future to bring an effect to the mind of one that will benefit them and raise the character and moral standard of one. It is a correction to the path and the deeds of one of the children of God.
The one that sends chastening to us is a Holy Righteous God who loves us and desires the best for us. “Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” Proverbs 3:12. Here we see the origin of chastening is held in the Divine love that God has toward us. Within this chastening, we find the mercy of God in that we were not destroyed.
The chastening is upon fallen man. We have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We do find that in repentance, we have been cleansed and forgiven. Yet as long as we are in this carnal body, we will stray, say things we should not and do things we should not. Because of this God will use an instrument to chastise us. Ii might be a calamity or some kind of trouble. There certainly will be affliction that will get our attention.
Chastisement is not because God is cruel. God does this out of love and mercy to reform man. Make man more like Jesus. The purpose is to cause us to eliminate some bad things in our life and to add some Godly things to our life.
Happy is the man whom God correcteth because this is a sign of being a child of God. Have you ever been chastened? If not, check your salvation.
In Spirit and In Truth The Word 