A Word from Hebrews 12

When’s the last time that you got punished for doing something wrong? Did you get a ticket because you were driving over the speed limit, or a cold shoulder from your spouse because you didn’t help out around the house? Did your boss give you a warning because you didn’t complete an assignment? Or do you have to go all the way back to your childhood to remember being punished? And here’s the follow-up question: When you got punished, were you upset because you got held accountable; or were you thankful because you learned how to do better?

Well let’s be honest: getting punished usually isn’t a lot of fun. It can be embarrassing, and costly; and sometimes, it confronts us with uncomfortable truth about the way that our behavior impacts others. But then again, if we never got punished, or corrected, or disciplined, how could we ever become the people we really want to be? And if that’s true in our families, and jobs, and communities, might it also be true in our relationship with God?

Today’s word from Hebrews 12 reminds us about the value of being disciplined when we fail. And this is what it says: “Endure hardship for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as His children; for what child is there whom a parent doesn’t discipline? They disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (12:7, 10-11)

Of course, in the almost-anything-goes culture of our day, it can be all-too-easy to avoid the kind of discipline that leads us into holiness. But I wonder if we’d be bold enough to pray, “Father, please discipline me, so that I can honor you”?

May we produce the fruit of righteousness as God’s correction leads us into holiness and life. Amen.