Thursday, August 18,
2022
And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you
as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s
discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those
he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” As you endure this divine discipline,
remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never
disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you
as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not
really his children at all. Since we respected our
earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the
discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us
for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so
that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is
enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest
of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands
and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path
for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become
strong. Work at living in peace with
everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not
see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you
fails to receive the grace of God. Watch
out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting
many. Make sure that no one is immoral
or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a
single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his
father’s blessing, he was rejected. It
was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears. Hebrews 12: 5-17
The first sermon I ever preached was from this text. After more than 45 years of reflection I
still hold it as one of the most important passages in Scripture…for people
like me…hardheaded, expecting fairness as I see it, and often blindsided by my
pride, as to what is good for me, and what I want…which are often at opposite
ends of God’s list of the care and feeding of Russell.
Discipline is as much an art as duty. The word has many shades of meaning, but
mostly points to training which leads to a better purpose. Solomon wrote:
Train up a child in
the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
This one word, discipline stands
between the pinnacle and the pit. To accept
God’s chastening when we are wrong is to turn to the light at the
pinnacle. To kick against the goads of
His training is to court the abyss of darkness and death. That’s not a pretty picture, but it is that much
risk which accompanies the God-given blessing/responsibility of free
will.
For You Today
We will look at this passage in depth over
the next several days. For now, let’s
start with the reason behind God’s discipline – He loves you!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have
a blessed day!
Go to VIDEO (read by author)
There are about 2,000 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. To dig deeper on
today’s topic, explore some of these: After the Disaster and Strength to Go On
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