Correct

“O Lord, correct me, but with judgment, not with anger” Jeremiah 10:24

Correct – I don’t like correction.  My almost immediate reaction to correction is defensive.  I don’t want to be wrong.  My observation is that we are a society that has a very hard time with admission of failure or error.  But without correction, it’s nearly impossible to learn.  I once had a language professor who quite calmly told the class, “You can learn any language in the world if you are willing to make a lot of mistakes.”  Once our egos get in the way of admitting errors, learning stops.

This principle is absolutely true when it comes to learning at the feet of God.  But there is one critical difference in God’s instruction.  It is so important that overlooking it will guarantee instant failure.  God’s method of instruction depends entirely on obedience.  In other words, God teaches us the first lesson and waits for us to obey.  He will never teach the second lesson until we obey the first.  He does care if we stay in kindergarten for the rest of our lives.  He will not graduate us to the next lesson until the first one has become part of our obedience to Him.

Here’s the “red flag theology” point.  If you are not getting fresh daily lessons from God, there is undoubtedly some prior lesson that you have not obeyed.  You are stuck and you will remain stuck (and feel the consequences of a lack of spiritual growth) until you settle the obedience issue.

God does not like His students to get stuck.  He wants growth.  So, when we get stuck, He does things to get us moving again.  He brings correction either by judgment or by wrath.  Jeremiah calls out to God, begging Him to bring correction (and get things moving again) with judgment, not wrath.  You can probably imagine why Jeremiah prefers it this way.

“Correction” in Hebrew comes from the verb yasar.  It means “to discipline, to punish and to chasten”.  Correction is not fun.  God uses all sorts of things to perform this correction.  His correction is not limited to individuals.  Entire nations can be corrected.  Correction is the time when God puts His thumb on your life and presses the ego out of you.  It hurts.  Life is greatly disturbed.  Energy drains away.  The dark clouds roll in.  But God isn’t trying to beat you unmercifully.  He is trying to get you to take a serious look at your obedience factor.

When you feel correction, even the tiniest bit, look for the red flag right away.  God never corrects more than necessary.  He wants us to move to the next lesson.  It’s all a matter of obedience.