Fathers Must Discipline
Monday, June 23, 2014
In worship, we’ve been examining King David’s example as a father to gain some insight into the difficulties fathers have faced for generations and how we might learn from his life to be better fathers.
In 1 Kings chapter 1, Adonijah, one of King David’s sons, sets himself up to be the next king as David is advanced in age and soon to be succeeded. The problem is, Adonijah assumes he will be the next king and the Bible says that David had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?”
It would seem that Adonijah had a problem with vanity, never hearing from his father that no might be a possibility in his quest to be king. It leads to a power struggle with his brother Solomon who is to be the next king, and ultimately because of his vanity, he secured his own death at the hand of King Solomon.
King David left Adonijah unchecked so that his assumptions lead to his demise.
The lesson is, that as hard as it is oftentimes to discipline our kids, we need to teach them that they can’t have everything. Adonijah, because of his looks and his lack of boundaries, thought the world was his for the taking. David had not instructed him in the proper path. Perhaps it was the example that wasn’t being set in this regard which caused Solomon to write so emphatically in the book of Proverbs the value of instruction and listening to our parents for wisdom and learning. King Solomon’s words might not be directly spoken to parents in the opening words of the book of Proverbs, but indirectly, they can be a lesson to make sure that children are being taught in a manner that builds safeguards into their lives so they understand humility and discretion.
When we teach children these values, God is pleased with us, for He has said that He doesn’t want even one of His children to fall away. May God grant us the strength to instruct our children in the way of meekness. Amen.
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