Discipline

By Andrew Beasley     To this day I can still remember the anxiety and the fear that would overcome me when my mother instructed me to go and “pick a switch.” Being on the end of the wrath of an authority figure because of our wrongdoing is not a pleasant feeling. Yet, at the same time, when people break the law or cause us offense, we desire retribution, justice and vengeance. As Christians, we can be certain that our God will avenge the wrongs we are subjected to by Satan and his forces. The book of Revelation, in part, is a reminder that God will avenge His people.     However, we should remember what the wrath of God unleashed upon man looks like. One might think of the flood, or the Amalekite people, or perhaps even the people of Nineveh (Nah. 1:2) who were spared for a time by the preaching of Jonah. Paul describes the wrath of God as being terrible (2 Cor. 5:11) and points to it as a reason we persuade others to follow Jesus. Yes, God is an avenger and yes He will avenge His people. But that does not mean we should hope for this. Instead, we should desire that everyone we meet in our lives avoids our avenging God.

- Andrew Beasley serves as a minister with the Northwest Church of Christ in Greensboro, NC. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: https://nwchurchofchrist.com/about/