We’re in a series that we’re finishing this week in Proverbs chapter 3. It’s a book on wisdom and our series title is Wisdom From the Heart of a Parent. This is wisdom ultimately from God to His children. We’re concluding this week in Proverbs chapter 3 and then we’re going to move on to a study through the book of Ezra next week. In Proverbs chapter 3 we’re looking at verses 9-12, but I’m going to read starting in verse 1 just to remind us of the context as we finish up our series.

1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, 2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. 3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. 11 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

There is a game that each one of our children have played at different times. It started with our oldest. When she was about three, she would pack a few things into a bag or backpack and put on some kind of clothes or some shoes and kind of wander around until she caught our attention. Then she would pause and look back and she would jump up and start walking out of the room or down in the basement and would say, “I’m going away, now. I’m going away to school, now. I’m going to be gone, now.” So we would say, “No, don’t go! Please stay here with us.” And she loved it! So she would come and replay that scene over and over, dragging it out. “I’m going away, far away!” “No, don’t go. We love you. We want you to stay.” Then she would giggle and then do it over and over and over.

The same game was played by our other two, and most recently by our youngest. She enjoys declaring to her mom and me, “I’m going away to college.” (Laughter!) “I’m going to be too grown up, too big for you to hold anymore. You can’t carry me.” I say, “No, don’t grow up. I want you to be little forever. We’ll keep you.” She loves it! It brings her joy. “No, I’m going to be big and go to college and get married.” I say, “Where are you going to go? Where are you going to stay?” She kind of looks at me confused, as if I don’t know. She’s like, “Uh, with you and mom.” (Laughter!) It’s only too true.

Little kids love to play that game because their part is to test the limits of our love and our part is to reassure them of its certainty. So they treasure hearing that they’re wanted, that they’re loved, that they belong. What a joy it is to see that even when the limits are tested, that the love is secure. It’s a joy to know that they have the heart of their father. They can count on our care at every level at which our love will be tested. To have your father’s heart is a precious gift. It’s a gift worth cherishing. If you have your father’s heart, you know what I mean. It’s not that your dad is perfect, but that your place in his heart is secure. No matter where you are, he loves you and he cares for you. By God’s grace, I have experienced such a gift. For those of you that have, it’s a gift to celebrate and be thankful for.

But in this fallen world, it’s a gift that not everyone has in an earthly sense. Some of you have grown up with uncertainty about your dad’s love. Maybe you wonder if you’re accepted, if you’re loved. Or perhaps even you’ve been clearly shown that you’re not. Perhaps you’ve experienced neglect or affection withheld or perfection demanded. Or maybe you just have never met your father. In this fallen world, having the heart of a father is a gift that not everyone has in this earthly sense. Yet without making light of the deep loss that is, in a very real and even more meaningful way, having the heart of a father is a gift that anyone can enjoy in the heavenly sense. This is the true point of fatherhood anyway.

It’s a gift designed to teach us about God. This is what we hear when we approach this father speaking to his son in Proverbs chapter 3. This is wisdom from the heart of a parent. It’s loving counsel from a father teaching his son that the one to whom he is ultimately to look to and to trust is not himself and not even him as the earthly father, but it’s to trust his father in heaven. This is an Israelite father speaking to his son, doing exactly what Yahweh taught His people to do.

Yahweh had taught His people early on that the parents were to teach their children to trust God and His provision, since the rescue from Exodus. The people had come out of slavery and there had been a promise of salvation carried forth from the time of Adam that had been issued and reiterated and clarified again to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. Joseph had expressed faith in this promise and countless generations until David and Solomon. The trust in God’s promise was something that parents were to continue to teach their children. They were to teach them to trust God. That’s why these verses here in chapter 3 are some of the most common verses cited by parents to their children. When we had these graduates up here and we would do a graduation banquet, year after year, one of the most common verses ever given when the parents would give a charge was these verses; Proverbs 3:5-6.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

This is the verse that comes to mind for parents and their children because they know what their children need is not to trust themselves or even to trust them as parents, but to trust their Father in heaven. That’s what they need. It’s what God has called parents to do, to teach their children to trust God. When God speaks to Israel, He even describes His relationship with them as one at times as a father to His son. It’s a special covenanted relationship with them that is in this metaphor of parenting. He’s talking about His relationship with His people. It’s a relationship that persists despite the ways in which that love is tested. He provides for their needs and also, He disciplines them for their sins because of His love for them. His love is put to the test, but His relationship is firm. He delivered them from Egypt and you see how He describes His deliverance in

Deuteronomy 1:31 …you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way you went until you came to this place.’

We were just at the zoo the other day. It was really hot outside and the kids were walking and getting tired. They were getting thirsty. There is this way where as a father you scoop them up because they can’t keep going. God says, “I scooped you up and carried you like a father carries his son. That’s how I carried you.” Elsewhere He says

Exodus 19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

He says, “When you lacked strength, I brought you. I’ve held you. I’ve carried you.” Isaiah 46:3 says He carried us since before your birth. God is our Father. Yet, his role as Father, his love for His children, Israel, is constantly being tested and rebelled against. He says

Isaiah 1:2 …”Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

God experiences the grief there, even though He has the unbreakable love of a father. That love takes the form of constant provision and discipline that is summarized so clearly back in the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 8:2-5 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you.

God is a loving Father. He is a Father who loves and cares for His children through both provision and discipline. It’s summarized there in

Psalm 103:13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

On His children, Yahweh has compassion. This is what it means to have your heavenly Father’s heart. You can count on His love. You can trust Him at all times. You can trust Him in times of prosperity and in times of adversity. Whatever season of life you’re going through, you can actually trust God and handle it because you know you have His heart. Whatever you’re receiving from His hand, whether provision or discipline, you know you have His heart and you know your place in His heart is secure. For God’s children, there is nothing better than knowing that they can count on that, that their place in their father’s heart is secure. Every experience that they have is shaped and controlled by the loving heart of their father. You could say it like this: Every gift God’s children receive comes from the heart of a heavenly father. It’s a heart of love that is steadfast and that cannot be broken. It’s a special, it’s a loyal, it’s a relational, it’s a promised, it’s a covenantal love that is often translated as lovingkindness. It’s a love that we can trust, that we can count on. It’s a love that we can never outgive and never outrun. The unfailing love of the heavenly Father is worth trusting.

Now, that kind of love is a love that is towards God’s children. Before we continue on, the first question that you have to answer is, am I a child of God? Now, in one sense, everyone understands God to be the father of all creation. He has made all things. We understand in one sense, we’re children of God made in His image. But there is a very important and real sense where there is a distinction between those who are just generally a child of God, one of creation, that is, born in Adam, and those who actually have been born again as a child of God in Christ. You see, this is a different kind of identity. It’s a special kind of identity to be in God’s family as one of His children, adopted in Christ.

So before you continue on and consider what it means to have God as your heavenly Father in this special sense, the way this Israelite would understand their promised relationship with God to be and what the Scriptures continually unpack and unfold for us to have a relationship with God that is, in that sense, special as our heavenly Father, you need to understand, have I been born again as a child of God? Have I believed in Jesus and received this gift of eternal life such that I know God is my heavenly Father and I have a secure place in His heart because of Jesus? Through Jesus’ perfect life, death on the cross and His resurrection, He offers this gift of eternal life and a place to belong in this heavenly home. If you don’t have clarity on that, it is priority number one for you, today. So you need to spend time studying the Scriptures, talking with people and getting help to understand what does it mean to actually be a child of God?

Now for those who do believe and embrace and understand, “Yes, I have trusted in Jesus. I am a child of God and I receive the passage that Pastor Ritch preached on about trusting in Yahweh with all my heart. I understand what it means to trust the Lord. I think I want to live that out. I do want to trust God.” But the question then is what does that look like practically? What does it look like to trust God with all our heart and to not lean on our own understanding? That’s what the father begins to help his son to flesh out. It’s how to trust God in every season, in prosperity and adversity, in times of provision and in times of discipline, both the bountiful and the painful times, knowing every gift comes from the heart of the heavenly Father. Here is how we trust Him in those times, knowing that both are expressions of His love. Neither one causes us to lose our position and our place in God’s heart, depending on what His hands offer, provision or discipline, but that we do respond to those well. He is calling his son to respond in wisdom to God. So God’s care is going to take these different forms of both provision and discipline. But he wants his son to respond well, and here is how we can respond well. First, look at God’s provision.

#1 The Generous Provision: You Can’t Outgive (9-10)

How should we think about and respond to God’s provision? What does it look like to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding when it comes to God’s provision, to what He gives or supplies to His children? God’s provision is so very generous. It’s so kind. He’s the one who gives us all things, whether it’s health or family or food or friends. There is not one thing that you enjoy that didn’t first come from God. So whether it’s the growth of your crops or the rain that fell or the frost that comes and goes or your ability to calculate numbers, your decision-making methods, your network that connects you to opportunity, your talent to kick a ball through a goal or your skill in plucking the strings of an instrument or your feel for putting together a well-crafted meal, from the tiniest hair on your head to the most obscure skill of your hands and everything that you can produce, God is the ultimate source and provider of all these good things. Everything good we enjoy first comes from God.

James 1:17 Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,

This exceedingly generous provider gives so far abundantly beyond what we need. The specific provision in view here from this father is the product of his son’s work or referred to as his wealth or his produce. It’s the harvest of grains and grapes that the prophet would yield in those seasons of sale. It’s what God has given as a result of his labor in the land. You think back to Adam and he would work in the land and there would be fruit brought forth as a result of that labor and that would be a provision of God, a powerful expression of His fatherly love. All that we’re able to produce ultimately is a gift given from God. The right response to that kind of generosity is honor. It’s that we would show honor. This is what he is to do with what God provides.

A father knows how tempting it can be to hold back. He knows that even in times of provision and prosperity that we can be tempted to be self-reliant. We can be tempted to think we no longer need God. Or we can be tempted to think that our provision is left entirely up to us, and now we’re on our own and so we have to do it without God. He knows it can be tempting to hold back and somehow forget God is the one who gave us all we have in the first place. Our natural sinful response is to hold back and to do it on our own. But wisdom teaches us a different way. The father has called his son to trust in the Lord with all his heart and to not lean on his own understanding. He gives a very specific application of what that trust is here when it comes to what God provides specifically in his wealth. He says to make it a priority to give God honor.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Honor God with His generous provision. We forget that God gives these things. As kids grow up and learn to talk, there are a few words and phrases that they often begin to say. Some of those words are “Mommy, Daddy, Ball, Bye, Hi, No, No, No.” (Laughter!) Pretty soon they start using phrases. “Uh oh. Please and thank you,” hopefully. But they often turn to these phrases, “Mine. Myself. Do it myself. By myself.” It’s almost kind of funny. I remember one of our children saying, “Myself. By myself.” This child liked to turn the light switches on and off by themselves, yet they couldn’t reach those light switches. They didn’t want us to do it. They would say, “By myself,” and then they would hold their hand up and wait for us to lift them up so that they could flip the switch. (Laughter!)

There is a sense of confidence in a good work ethic. It’s a healthy part of natural development. But there is this sort of stubborn self-reliance that is disrespectful and disregarding of the provision upon which we’re so obviously dependent. It’s a sort of arrogant attitude that can continue into teen years and into adulthood where we have self-sufficiency and we forget to remember how dependent any of our accomplishments are upon the generous provision of God. The father is teaching his son the wisdom of giving God honor for the provision that so obviously comes from above. He knows the natural temptation is to doubt whether he needs God or doubt whether God will come through and we turn a blind eye toward heaven. So we fall into this habit of withholding any honor or gratitude and forgetting who has provided all the things we enjoy in the first place. God is the provider. He provides so generously and His generosity, His provision should be honored.

What does it look like to honor God’s provision? How do we show honor to Him? Well, there are a few instructions, here. I’ll try to touch on four. First, if we’re to give of the provision that God has given us, show honor, and we’re to give back something to the Lord, we have to do it on purpose. You honor God and you give on purpose. It’s not something that happens accidentally. It’s this exhortation, this command that he gives his son to be obeyed, here. He says

9 Honor the LORD

So here is this personal relationship with God. He has given His covenanted name that He revealed to His people, Israel. He had shared this is who I am. It’s not just a vague deity out there that sort of requires token displays of veneration, as if God needed anything from us. He’s the one who gives us all these things. This is a personal God of relationship. It’s a father calling his son to trust God personally and practically with what God has provided in his wealth, and to do it on purpose because this is about relationship. It’s not something that you can just write off as sort of an expression of religious ceremony or some kind of legal or ritual responsibility. Ultimately, this is about doing it from the heart, desiring to show honor to this personal God who is delivered to His people.

The word honor here is the same as the word glorify. It’s the idea of heaviness, of worthiness, of weightiness. Here is God being worthy. The idea is treating God as worthy. Honor Him. Glorify Him as a big deal and that He matters to you. The father is saying use your wealth and your provision. Use what God has given to show that you believe God matters to you and that God is worthy of gratitude and honor. Use what God has given you to show that your confidence isn’t primarily in your wealth or yourself, but it’s in God. That’s something that has to be done on purpose. Ultimately this has to be on purpose because it’s not about your stuff. What God wants is your heart. You can’t say, “Well, how much do you want, God? What’s the amount? Can I just sort of write this off and be done with this?” No. It always has to be done on purpose because it’s about relationship. It’s about your heart.

My wife and I just enjoyed an anniversary. If I as a husband said, “I guess this is kind of a big deal. What would make you happy? What would be enough?” I’m starting off on the way wrong foot, aren’t I? (Laughter!) Because my goal is off. What she wants is my heart. What she wants is relationship. So I’m not saying, “What amount will make you happy? What amount will please you?” There is no amount. Ultimately, she doesn’t need any stuff from me. She wants relationship. She wants my heart. Whatever expression it is, it just must be done on purpose because she has my heart. I’m giving honor because I’m expressing love. God doesn’t need our stuff. He doesn’t need our things. He doesn’t need the son’s wealth. The father is saying God wants your heart. Do it on purpose. Honor the Lord and do it on purpose. Israel was called to sacrifice their animals and their crops. They would hold feasts and they would hold fasts and do all kinds of expressions of worship. By the end of the day, God constantly called them to worship from the heart. It wasn’t just these outward forms of expression that He wanted, but He wanted their heart.

One form that comes to mind is this idea of tithing. The Hebrew word means a tenth. So in this idea of tithing, there is an example of Abraham where he gives a tenth. Then there are some instances throughout the Law where there are expressions where the Israelites are called to give a certain amount, at times, a tenth. But it’s not really a perfect amount per se that is prescribed for all time. It’s not a bad example, but ultimately, it’s just one way, one form that God is giving some instruction, but hopefully that the people would do something on purpose and worship from the heart. He wants relationship. The provision is given not so that they would buy off space from God, but that they would invest and draw near to God. So it must be done on purpose. It can’t happen on accident and it can’t be set on auto pilot. So it’s something that always has to be renewed in a day by day sort of fashion and in a month by month and a year by year. So we have to be wary of kind of setting our honoring of God on autopilot. We have to do it on purpose. Honor Yahweh. It’s about our heart and it happens on purpose. It must happen from everything. The father is clear here that responding well to God’s provision means honoring Him on purpose and from everything. He said to honor God

with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

There is sort of a broad expanse. He says to honor Him with your wealth and from all your produce. The idea is to hold nothing back. It’s to put it all on the table. Have your hands open. It’s not because God is selfish or trying to be mean. No, all these things came from Him. He’s saying have your heart open and remember all these things come from God. Honoring Him means having no space that is held back from Him in your heart. When you come to God and you have honor to Him, then all your life is in view.

There are three categories that come to mind that kind of touch on the full scope. We talk about your time, how you invest, how you spend your time. We talk about your talents, your abilities, how you invest and spend how God has gifted you. Then we talk about your treasures. It’s how you use your possessions and the things that God has given you, whether it’s finances or property. But probably most important of all these things are your relationships. We’re talking about whether it’s family or your spouse or kids or friends or girlfriends or your employment. All these things that time, talents, your treasures, and specifically relationships, how do you hold those things when it comes to God? Do you think that you have gotten them yourself? When you think about your wealth and what God has provided and what you produce are these all the things that belong to you or do you recognize that all of this ultimately comes from God and belongs to Him? What is it in your life that you tend to hold back?

The father is just working out practically, what does it look like to trust in Yahweh with all your heart and to not lean on your own understanding? What does it look like to have everything out on the table? He goes straight for the pocketbook and he says when it comes to what God has provided, don’t hold back. Give on purpose and give from everything. Then he also says to give up front. He says to honor God with the firstfruits. There is a priority here that God gets. You could say He gets the first and best of the produce that would come from your labor. You trust Him as the source of the first and best of your returns and you honor Him that He is the one who provision comes from.

If you travel to Israel, you will see it’s very hot. You’re dependent on God bringing the rain and that any crops would grow at all. When those crops do finally grow, it was an extreme expression of faith and trust to bring those firstfruits and say, “Okay. We’re going to give these to God,” and to not just consume them yourself. You’re so dependent on God for rain and food and this is an expression of trust to bring not only the firstfruits of a harvest, but we see examples of giving the firstfruits of the flock or even dedicating the firstborn son. There is an understanding that the best I have belongs to God and to remember that I trust Him to provide what I need. Ultimately, again, it’s not because God needs what we have to offer. He wants our heart and this is the way that we show He has our heart and to understand and express we believe we have His.

You can say the opposite of firstfruits is leftovers. After we have consumed our own fill and we’ve checked all of our boxes, then God gets what is left over. So whether it’s the budget sheet and we’re working out our balances or whether it’s our schedule and we’re fitting things in, slotting things in, or our check list and to-do list. Here’s all the things I want to get done. It’s so easy to be tempted that the space just gets filled up and God gets squeezed out in our budgets, in our calendars, on our to-do lists. This is a reality that I face very acutely. I’ve been asking the Lord for forgiveness and help to grow in this because I can see how easy it is for God to start to get the leftovers. What the father is saying here is

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

Honor the Lord first and up front. It’s so easy to say, “Yes, I trust the Lord with all my heart. I don’t lean on my own understanding. Why are my paths not straight? Why do I not know which way to go? How do I understand what the will of the Lord is?” If you’re looking for this, then be careful that God is not getting all your leftovers. Put God first in everything. Give up front. Give on purpose. Give everything and give in faith. Yahweh is God. Ultimately everything good belongs to Him and comes from Him and He deserves our very best. Yet, here is the thing. You can never outgive Him. He is worth trusting. The father says you can’t outgive God’s provision.

10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

You want to experience provision. You want to know that you’re okay. You want to have enough. You’re looking at an empty barn. You’re looking at an empty vat. You’re not sure. Is there going to be a harvest and grain on the vine? Are there going to be grapes and wine in the vat? He says you want to know that you’re going to be taken care of. Trust God. He is so trustworthy. You can never outgive Him. There are such clear pictures of God’s provision and our dependency upon Him because the harvest, the grain and the grapes, these things only come from God. You can work really, really hard, but at the end of the day only God brings about the growth. He brings about the grain and the grapes. These come from Him. He’s saying if you want the things that come from God, remember they come from God. Honor Him and know you can trust Him.

This is not a verse that is designed to promote what some call health, wealth or prosperity gospel. They say, “Here’s the good news. You can do things and make God do even better things for you.” They teach that God is like a genie. There is sort of a formula that forces Him to give two dollars for every one we give Him. No, that’s a false teaching that is often used by teachers who are preying upon people in either their misfortune or their greed, to try to build wealth for themselves, often. This is not what the father is doing. The father is saying you can trust God. Everything you have ultimately is a stewardship from Him. He provides and He always comes through. He is trustworthy. You can’t outgive Him. He is worth honoring. Honor Him. This is what it looks like to trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding.

God has been generous from the beginning and these temptations have existed in fact in the very garden where God provided so generously and Adam and Eve had all that they needed. Yet, they were tempted to doubt and to trust themselves. Abel and Cain came for worship of God and we see Cain approaching things his own way and not responding well when God brings correction. Whether it’s Abraham or Israel called to walk by faith, all of these constant reminders are that the people are to trust God, but they constantly look to themselves. Jesus, when He came, He was teaching, and so often He spoke about this issue of money.

Luke 12:15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
This isn’t about just getting a lot of stuff. He’s saying be careful, actually. He tells a story about a man who acquired a bunch of stuff. He had full barns and vats of wine, you could say. He thought that was enough. At the end of the day,

Luke 12:20-21 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

You see, ultimately, what the father is about here, you understand, is not just building and amassing wealth, but it’s about relationship with God and trusting God and knowing that you move towards Him by honoring Him. That’s an investment into eternity, your relationship with God. Then ultimately, what overflows in your care and investment towards others and compassion is that you’re investing in relationships that are going to last. Build treasures or store up treasures where Jesus says a little bit later,

Luke 12:33-34 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where not thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Don’t be afraid of where you’re at in life. Think about these graduates that are thinking about the world and the economy and what’s coming up and what are we going to do? Here is the father saying you can trust God. Trust God with all your heart. Put Him first. He will provide. Here’s a father and you have a church family who can all testify that yes, I put God first and He comes through every time. I can’t outgive God. In fact, how could you ever outgive God? Think about what God has given ultimately.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

You cannot outgive God. He has given you Himself, his very own Son. The love of God is fathomless. In fact, the love of God is so clear and is made sure in Jesus. Paul says

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

The love of God and His provision is immeasurable. This is what we have in our heavenly Father. We have a love that we can trust. So we need to beware not just of money. Money is a gift that comes from God. But 1 Timothy chapter 6 would talk about the love of money. Part of that is replacing that with the love of God and investing whatever God gives for His kingdom and His glory. So Paul’s encouragement is

1 Timothy 6:17-19 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

There are these things that are fading away. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon knew so clearly this treasure that is just passing away is just vanity. But there is treasure that lasts. It’s an eternal treasure that is so often unseen. In the book of Revelation, we see Jesus speaking to a church and a people that seemed wealthy in an earthly sense. But He says you’re so poor, you’re impoverished. But make investments into relationship with God and with people and maybe it won’t seem like you’re wealthy on the outside. But true treasure is found there. This is God’s expression of provision and His fatherly love. You see it there in His provision that you can’t outgive Him. But not only in times of prosperity or provision, but even in times of adversity, you have God’s love.

#2 The Faithful Discipline You Can’t Outrun (11-12)

You know you have the heart of your Father in His generous provision, but also in His faithful discipline. This is discipline that you cannot outrun. This word discipline is not one that we usually like to hear. The English word discipline has sort of a wide array of meanings where it could refer to training and encouragement or instruction, all the way up to correction and even physical punishment. The Hebrew word for discipline here also has a wide range of possible meanings. You can be talking about instruction all the way up to correction or even to a physical chastisement or punishment. This idea of discipline though is one that we don’t usually like. We just kind of naturally don’t appreciate the idea of discipline. It’s so important, but we tend to run from it.

I think about little toddlers or even just crawlers. You can see that father say, “Don’t touch it. Don’t grab that.” They grab it and then they start trying to crawl away or waddle away. You think, “What are you doing? You’re never going to be able to outrun your dad,” yet there they go. They’re trying to escape and trying to avoid the discipline. There is a fear and a dread as the father approaches. But what the father is teaching is there also is actually a comfort. There is something special about the discipline of a father because it’s done in love. He says

11 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Discipline may seem like an unpleasant burden to be avoided, but it’s actually a precious blessing to be embraced. The father knows it’s not natural. He needs to give encouragement to his son. But if you’re going to trust the Lord with all your heart, do not run or resist His discipline. He gives a few cautions not to run from. Remember the purpose that discipline serves. Remember what it’s for. We need discipline to grow. The word discipline, like we said, it can include correction, but sometimes it means training and instruction. In fact, when Jesus came He was perfect. Jesus was born as an infant, yet was growing perfect, without sin. Yet He still grew in understanding. He was taught and instructed in the Word of God. We see almost a shocking verse in

Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Even in Jesus’ perfection, there was a progression of growth, a teaching and instruction. As He received God’s Word and instruction of His father, He grew. Discipline is actually a great gift in growing and teaching and instructing. It’s not all corrective. Some is instructive, but some is corrective. You see that in the word reproof. There is a reproof, there is a discipline that is hard, that is painful, that we tend to want to avoid. But he says don’t despise it or be weary of it. It’s actually needed. It’s a good thing.

Psalm 94:12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,

There is blessing in discipline. We see that God teaches and He brings about this reproof most often through His Word.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

We learn what is right. The Scriptures show us what is wrong. It shows us how to get right and how to stay right. It helps us to walk the path that God is calling us to walk. It helps us with what it means to become like Jesus. God teaches through His Word and He brings discipline. Sometimes His discipline happens simply through conviction of the Holy Spirit from God’s Word. On a Sunday or any given morning or evening that you’re sitting there and you’re reflecting on truth, the Spirit cuts you to the heart and you experience conviction. Do you believe that could happen? Do you believe on a Sunday when you come that you could get convicted? I might need to change based on what I hear. In fact, any one of the members of my family, my spouse and my kids, when we come and we listen to the Word of God, it’s very possible that we would be convicted and that we might actually have to do business with God. We might have to actually pray and say, “God, I need your help. I need to turn from something in my life,” and to leave room in our schedules and to recognize that it actually is a form of love that God would have upon our souls, that He would bring discipline and remind us and correct us. This is actually a good thing. God has a purpose in it that we would grow. Sometimes it’s on the inside.

There have been times where I have been walking in sin and experienced even just an internal loss of peace and a heaviness of God upon my soul. God can bring discipline in these ways. Sometimes He can bring it through other people who bring correction in our lives. Sometimes He can bring it even on the outside, through consequences. It’s not that every consequence is a result of sin. We learn that from the book of Job. Not all suffering is a specific match one to one for sin. Yet, through the suffering, God is growing and transforming and instructing us. We receive it from His hand and we understand its purpose. We also remember the perspective that it requires.

He says don’t despise it or be weary of it. I think he has two different sides here. Those who despise it think too little of it and those who are weary of it think it’s too much. He says don’t think too light of it, like it’s nothing and it doesn’t have an affect on you. But also, don’t think too heavy of it and dread it and start to think that it’s not from the hand of a loving Father and you start to be weighed down and weary and then you think it’s too much. No, God has given it to you for a reason, to help you grow, because He loves you. Appreciate what He is giving you. Maintain this perspective and ultimately look at the position that it assures you of. Discipline is not an expression of hate, but it’s an expression of love and it assures us we belong to a loving heavenly Father who views us as His own. He says

12 for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Hebrews 12 draws out this passage specifically. It says

Hebrews 12:5-8 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

As a son, you experience the loving discipline of God. You can’t outrun it. He loves you and He will pursue you. We take comfort in that. Take comfort as a parent of a child who is now run away from you, run away from the Lord, a child that is a prodigal, you could say. You can take comfort in knowing that God is a God that they can never outrun and continue to pray. If they ever turn to God as their heavenly Father, He will pursue them with loving, kind discipline. And whenever we feel like someone in the church family is not responding the way that we would hope and we think things aren’t right, we also can trust that God is a wise heavenly Father who knows exactly the kind of discipline that is needed.

But one of the things to remember about this loving Father’s discipline is that God is a God who is exceedingly longsuffering. We have a whole Old Testament history and a very clear example. The idea is “long in the nostrils.” He has a long fuse. He is a very patient and longsuffering God. You won’t outrun His discipline. In fact, a lot of the prophets are crying out, “God, where is your discipline? Why haven’t you come?” God says, “I am longsuffering.” It will come as an expression of love, but it is an expression of love to His children. It doesn’t come from the place of wrath. It comes from a heart of love. This discipline actually assures us of our position before God as our Father. It’s a precious gift that is given.

We recently were able to attend a court hearing for the finalization of an adoption. It brought back memories of our own adoption finalization. It’s this precious moment that I wish everyone could hear. At the hearings, the attorney will ask some questions of these adoptive parents, if they understand what is taking place. They’re trying to scare them out of it, basically. They’ll say, “Do you understand the permanency of this occasion?” Yes. “Do you understand you’re taking on the complete responsibility for the provision and care of these children? They’re receiving the full rights and privileges of a member of your family. The action is permanent and irrevocable.” I kind of feel like they should tell that to every parent when you’re getting ready. (Laughter!) But that’s what you’re experiencing in adoption. This is a big deal! The ongoing provision and discipline are going to be two very tangible ways that this care is going to manifest and remind these kids that now and forever they belong.

In God, we’ve been adopted in Christ. We belong to His family. It was something that He did before the foundation of the world. When you go to these adoption meetings, sometimes with the younger children, they are the ones that this is the most meaningful to and they have no idea what is going on. It’s all about the care for them. When we come to God, we realize that what He has planned for us, the love that He has offered to us, the position He secured for us in Christ was before we had any idea what was going on and it’s far more secure. We can test that love, but the preciousness of what we have in Jesus is the heart of a father. It’s a love that is unshakeable. It’s a love that offers a provision that we can never outgive and a discipline we can never outrun. It’s a precious gift, the heart of a Father. There is no more precious gift to trust than that.