I found my oldest son, Solomon, playing on the washing machine after I asked for the DVD and Wii games to be put away. I confronted him for his disobedience and was greeted by the usual “humph,” a matter of fact, “I am not going to do it,” and arms folded.
His direct disobedience came with the customary single spanking. So I took him alone into the bedroom and encountered a very disobedient heart. His anger for the first spanking led to our conversation.
“Solomon do you understand that receiving a spanking is your choice as a result of your decision. It is best for you to obey mommy and daddy because God has given us responsibility for you. When you disobey us you are also disobeying God. It is so foolish to disobey God. Foolish actions will always lead to hurt in your life. This spanking is to remind you that foolish actions lead to a fool’s reward.”
After we finished I found him perched on the bathroom counter about 5 minutes later. When I asked what was wrong he told me, “My butt hurts.”
“What does that remind you of,” I asked.
Looking down he said, “That it’s foolish to disobey you.”
I grabbed a seat next to the counter, sat down and asked, “When you disobey me, who are you really disobeying?”
“God,” he responded with tears in his eyes.
“Do you understand that spankings are not punishment for your sin, but the way I remind you of my love and show you the path of righteousness?” I asked.
His response was accompanied by his first look to my eyes, “Yes.”
I began to notice a very tender heart in Solomon. His defiance and anger had given way to sorrow and a teachable moment. So I asked, “What is the real punishment for sin?”
“Death,” he answered.
“Who will punish that sin?”
He responded, “God.”
Taking this moment I said, “This is not why you were created. You were created to reflect God’s glory by bearing his image. God is love, so you can love. God is creator, so you can be creative. God is truth, so you can know, which is why you love to read so much. It is why you are smart little boy. But your sin has made you love the wrong person. You love yourself more than God. That is why you get angry with me for holding you accountable for your wrong. It is why you think it is okay to disobey. But God has made you for so much more than yourself.”
We talked about Christ, who was God, who had lived a perfect life, died a sinner’s death, and was raised to life three days later. I showed him how Christ did all these as a man in a way Solomon never could because of his sin.
“I want to live for what I was created for,” Solomon said as he listened in one of those rare attentive moments. He then said, “Spankings are kind of like an electric fence.” I was intrigued to say the least. So I asked how.
“The fence keeps me walking on the road I should, but when I want to go a different direction the fence shocks me enough to hurt. But this isn’t as close to as bad as it would hurt if I went passed the fence.” “But dad,” he paused. “I really want to go outside the fence. I want to just grab it even though it hurts and cross it.”
We then talked about how Christ did for us what we could never do ourselves. That Christ did this to free us from the power of sin that makes us want the wrong things. Those are foolish and lead to destruction. We talked about how Christ is worth more than anything on the other side of that fence and the journey down the road Jesus offers is far more than any journey you could ever have for yourself.
“I want to go on that journey with God, dad,” Sol said. “I really do want to live for Jesus and I want to be what he created me to be. I need Jesus to do for me what I can’t.”
“He already did,” I answered.
“I think he knows better than me, dad,” Sol responded.
So I led Solomon in a prayer. He told Jesus he trusted him. He told Jesus he was going to leave behind what he wanted in life. He told Jesus how he wanted what Jesus created him to be.
To say this was a beautiful moment would be an understatement. To say that God answers prayer would seem to routine. To see the eternal result from a spanking that hurts me more than it would ever hurt him, worth it. I love my children too much to let them walk a path away from freedom to foolishness and destruction. After that moment we gathered with my wife and the three of us thanked God for answering our prayers and saving Solomon.
Just a few short weeks later I was blessed to baptize the second member of my family. First my wife a few years ago, and this weekend my son.
“I baptize you, my brother in Christ and partner in the gospel from this day forward, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ. Raised to walk in newness of life.”
May our journey together in the partnership of this gospel be all that our Lord promised and commanded.
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:29
