Finding God in the mysteries of every day
Week 39 Day 5
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Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Perhaps no other word in the Christian lexicon has engendered more confusion and conflict in the world’s eyes that the word discipline. The word in Greek is paedeia which from ancient time meant to train up an aware and functioning citizen, a contributing member of the community. This fits extremely well with the idea of being part of the body of Christ. Discipline of children in light of this means far more than “bending” the child to a parent’s will. Sometimes it means that the parent needs to take a look at their approach to the whole process of parenting.
There is no doubt that we have reared an extremely spoiled, pampered, and narcissistic bunch of children. To one degree or another we in the church have perpetuated the adolescence of children well into their thirties with the results being the chaos we see all around us. Cultural trends notwithstanding the Lord does not change. We need His discipline.
Larry M Lawrence- Mysteries 