17 “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.[a] 18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal. 19 From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will befall you. 20 In famine he will ransom you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. 21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. 22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth. (Job 5, NIV)
These are the words of Eliphaz, one of the three friends of Job who came to visit Job while he was going through hardships
These three friends heard about what Job was going through and they got together and came to visit Job. At first sight, they could not even recognize Job. For seven days, they sat with Job, nobody speaking anything. After seven days, Job started speaking and then Eliphaz started to talk
Eliphaz mentions about the God who corrects; the God who wounds and then binds up the wounds.
If we define “true love” as the one where no one ever corrects you, you could be wrong. True love involves correction
In the church today, many don’t like correction. As long as everything is given an “O.K” signal, there is no problem!
But God’s nature is different. The word of God is also a double-edged sword
It cleans, corrects and even cuts. The word also restores, revives and renews us
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. (John 15, NIV84)
What kind of preaching do we want to hear? Only that which says “God will make you the head and not the tail?” (Often, you need to become the “tail” first and then God will promote you to become the “head”!)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3, NIV)
Sometimes, when someone corrects or rebukes us, we may not like it. But we better submit to the authority of the person and admit our sins, instead of justifying our actions and trying to twist the word, for instance, I was blacklisted by cheetah and I was punished for plagiarism. I had to take my correction and turned back from it.
18 Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. 19 “Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.” (Daniel 10:18-19, NIV)
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit[e] and they are life. (John 6:63, NIV)
The word of God has everything we need: instruction, correction, blessings, guidance etc.
God bless you, for the reading of God’s word also accepting the act of corrections
