Just Like My Dad

Just like my Dad

Hebrews 12:5-11

I know that many of you have heard me say that I was on drugs when I was young. I was drug to church every time the doors were open. And that is only one of my many memories that I thank God for.

I can remember mom telling me to get her a switch. We all knew what that meant. A little one would sting. A big one would beat. So I can remember getting different ones then trying it out on me to find the one that hurt the least before I would take to mom. Now that didn’t make a lot of sense now that I think about it. You whip yourself trying to find the right one before your parents whipped you.

There also was a rule at our house that if you got a whipping in school, you also got one when you got home. Now this was in the days when they had the true Board of Education. It was usually about 6” wide and often had holes drilled in it. But things got worse when I left the private sector and went to the Christian School. They were a lot stricter. Talk in the class and you would get a paddling. One teacher I had gave a quiz every day on the material we had covered the day before and if you miss more than two out of the five questions then you received a paddling. So needless to say, I was accustomed to at least two whippings a day. I can remember going home after school and seeing how many pair of underwear I could fit on under my pants. Or I would have my guy friends slip me their wallets as I walked to the front of the class to receive my punishment. I had it down to an art.

But the one thing I never understood, until I became a parent of my own kids, was when my Dad before he would whip me would often tell me, “This hurts me more than it does you”. I was like “Dad, don’t hurt yourself”. Spare us both. But my Dad would punish me because he loved me, and he must have loved me a lot.

Now there may be some of you here this morning that do not believe that you should spank a child. You were never and you don’t intend to do that to your child or Grandchild as well. Before you get upset with me, listen to what God’s word says about raising your child.

Proverbs 13:24 He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

But that is a whole other sermon. What I want to share with you this morning is about our Heavenly Father. Just as my Dad whipped me because he loved me, our Heavenly Father does the same.

Proverbs 3:11-12 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

One of the ways that you know that God loves you is when He spanks you. And both a Christian and a lost person who has not accepted Christ as their own personal Savior sin. We should not be surprised when a lost person sins; that is what sinners do, sin.

But the distinction is that when a believer sins, God will confront them and punish them till they leave that life of sin.

I heard about a young man who went off to college. After his first semester he wrote a letter home to his mom. It went like this…

Dear Mom,

I’ve got some bad news. I know that you and dad paid a lot of money to send away to college but things have gotten a little out of hand. I’ve flunked all my classes. College is a lot tougher than I thought; I guess I should have gone to class. So I got kicked out and have to sit out a semester. I need you to send me money so that I can get home. I wrecked the car a totaled it, but don’t worry I’m all right; I just lost my license for DUI. But the main reason that I wrote you is so that you can prepare Dad for me.

Love your son.

The mom after receiving the letter responded back by letting him know that he didn’t have to worry. She was sure his Dad would be prepared for his return and that he just better worry about preparing himself.

If you are here this morning and you have chosen to enter into a life of sin, don’t worry. Your Heavenly Father is prepared for you as well. How is He prepared for you? Well if you look at the choices, He could do one of three things.