The Devotional

Papa “J” says

The song writer says that there is a “balm” in Gilead. But if referencing Jeremiah 8:22 he or she got it wrong. There is no comfort for a peoples who turn their back on God. Jeremiah 8:18-22

It is hard to comprehend that February marks the month and the year Two Thousand Ten marks the time of fifty two years when I first stepped foot in the military “boot camp” of the United States Navy. Times change, what was then; is not now. The barracks is replaced by motel accommodations, The bark of the DI is replaced by someone who might be obliged to tuck you in at night and the training of discipline has all but disappeared. The fact is that the teaching of discipline has been removed from the home, the school, the military, the job and of course the nation. I hated my DI, he was mean to the core. He was rough with his ways of communication. He made me hold my rifle at arms length straight out until I could not hold it any longer. I was not alone, all seventy of us did this daily, we marched for hours and carried heavy gear in one pointless direction to another. We jogged for hours, sometimes with the gear. Whats the point I often thought. Near the end of the training it all began to click. There was no need to ask the question... “WHY?” because all seventy of us needed the one valuable thing he knew how to provide: DISCIPLINE. My hate vanished and much of what he taught is still with me today. I suppose that is why I would be no good at driving a school bus these days.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 16:13-23 These final exhortations of the apostle have a lot to do with discipline and I just want to highlight a few of them. Watch, stand fast, be brave, be strong – these words require discipline. But notice the adhesive that holds these words of discipline together. The words “in the faith” Faith is our DI that pushes us to the limit and requires us to take the next tearful, tiring, uncertain step.

Learn to love, rather than hate. Observe the people that God has placed in your path, those who have devoted their lives to the ministry of faith and obedience. Sure these folks can be rough and not treat us as we might like. We often see their mistakes, holding it against them, hating and back biting them. In spite of our complaint, God will not give up on our adolescent behavior. Soon we will learn to be submissive.

Then when submission happens, we stop asking the question “WHY?” and we are no longer a WHY-NER! We have learned to accommodate a disciplined heart of love, like those who have gone ahead of us. There is a problem however: Not many of us will be able to drive the “school bus!” All because it is loaded with a bunch of undisciplined WHY-NERS!