Discipline

The past couple of nights, I have been reading the first few chapters of 1 Kings and cross-referencing them. I was amazed to find that even a man as great as King David had trouble disciplining his children. This excerpt is taken during a time whe King David was on his death bed and had not yet announced to Israel who would succeed him as King.

15 Now Adonijah, *David's son*, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, "I will be king." So he got chariots and horses [a] ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. 6 (His father had never interfered with him by asking, "Why do you behave as you do?" He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)

Try to get past the part where a young virgin has to sleep beside an old man ( maybe she felt this a privilege to be chosen for the King's service???) and focus on verse 6. It looks as if David failed to discipline his sons and as a result he received a lot of heartache from at least Absalom, who tried to kill him; Amnon, who raped his sister; and Adonijah, who tried to usurp the throne.

A few days ago, I was discussing with my sister the verse that states:

"He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."
(Proverbs 13:24)

So I already know that discipline is important. Now I know that this is a touchy subject, but lately I have witnessed the effects of "the naughty seat" on the three year old that I babysit. Maybe for some children, this tactic works, but for her, it decidedly does not. She has a great imagination and will play with the walls, her hands, etc. Really, she does not care if I put her in time out. Perhaps for some children, time out would be seen as a punishment but I definitely do believe there is a time and a place for an old-fashioned spanking!