The Purpose of Punishment

I'm still reading in the book of Deuteronomy. Here is my latest "God-thought" as I was reading chapter 29 this morning:

Through this seemingly "mean" passage on what will happen to Israel if they break the covenant with God, I was reminded of God's good intentions behind the "curses" (or punishment). You see, there are some people that believe God will just punish people because he can when we mess up; almost as if there is no real good reason for the punishment other than because that's the way God plays. But this is so far from the truth!

If you look at the covenant God has set up (in short, "If you do this, I'll do this; but if you do that, I'll do that"), it is a covenant firmly founded on God's desire to bring blessings into his children's lives. God wants to bless those who listen to His way because His way is the good way; why would we not want to pick the path that ends in goodness?! But it doesn't stop here. God wants his children to experience His goodness so deeply that He will bring punishment to them to warn them that they are on the wrong path. The purpose of punishment is to stop bad behavior before it leads you into complete destruction.

I was simply reminded that, for those who choose to enter into God's family, God is a good Father who is not afraid to punish His children because of his great love. The purpose of His punishment is to save us from destroying ourselves. What a good Father!

More Questions Than Answers

That is my conclusion.
Five minutes ago I just read Deuteronomy 17 thru 25.
If you want to read about specific Jewish laws, then read what I just mentioned.
If that doesn't sound life-altering, then don't. (hint: it wasn't life-altering for me)
But here's my take away:

Although these passages raise about 10 times as many questions about the details of God's ways than giving me solid answers , I cannot deny, and nobody else who reads the Scriptures can deny, the answers that prevail:

The God of the Scriptures demands justice for everyone, mercy to everyone, holiness of His people, forgiveness for each other, and kindness towards everyone.

P.S. Just because I have more questions than answers doesn't mean that the answers I have been given are to be crowded out and counted as loss.

Late Night Thought: Master The Art of Great Decision Making

I've been somewhat amazed (really amazed lately) at how many good things aren't really good things at all when they keep you from actually doing the great things. Let me explain.

I love to play & practice the guitar and drums. These are really good things that I'm able to do. Spending time practicing is a good thing because it helps me get better. And when I'm better I can serve others better by offering up much better sounding music all the while spending less "mind energy" on what I'm currently playing & more "mind energy" on who I'm playing for. Get it? But what if this good thing keeps me from spending more time in my relationships? Surely spending time in my relationships (like with my wife or son or unsaved neighbor) is of a higher priority than practicing guitar, isn't it?

Now think of all the seemingly good things we all do daily.

It seems that good things aren't really good things at all when they keep us from the great things. Now, I'm not saying I give up on practicing guitar & drums, but what I am saying is that I've got to learn to pick the greater thing when faced with two seemingly good things. I'm not saying "balance" and "proper scheduling" are the answers either (although they can help) because if you look at the life of Jesus those two words (balance & scheduling) don't exactly come to mind.

So, try to balance all the good things you want and try to schedule your life away, but in the end all the good things you're trying to balance and schedule that keep you from the great things aren't doing you any good in the first place.

We've all got to master the art of great decision making. Who was the expert great decision maker? Obviously, it was Jesus. Study his life and you'll quickly see that most everything he did was based on the decision to do the greater thing rather than the good thing. Just think about how many "good things" He could have done while on earth. And yet He stuck to a few great things.

There are things in life that are more important than others and we've got to learn what those things are and stick to them like Jesus did.

Yet another reason to study the life of Jesus and study Scripture, especially if you label yourself a follower of Christ.