FATHERLY DISCIPLINE

FATHERLY DISCIPLINE
Heb 12:4-13
"…the Lord disciplines those he loves…." (v.6)

IN THE CHRISTIAN RACE, THERE WILL be difficult times. We are exhorted not to treat them lightly, neither to take them too hard (v.5). Some people attribute adversity to bad luck and just shrug their shoulders. Others lose heart as they ask bitterly why it should happen to them. Neither of these responses is right.

The author of Hebrews asks us to think of hardship as part of the discipline of our heavenly Father. Firstly, the fact that He disciplines us means we are His children (vv.6-8). We are not illegitimate children for then we would have no father to discipline us. Secondly, we respect the discipline of our human fathers though we may not always find them fair. Some fathers may discipline their children in a fit of misdirected anger. But God's discipline is always just. Should we not submit ourselves to it?

Today, untaught or poorly taught Christians have the image of God as a celestial Santa Claus. It is His job to ply us with goodies. When we receive good from God's hands, we take it as our right. But when bad times come, we complain and begrudge God, "Why? Why should this happen to me?" To change the analogy slightly, we think that God is like our favourite uncle who visits us every now and then, and showers us with sweets and chocolate. No, He is no uncle. He is our Father who cares for us, and shows it by His fatherly discipline.

Discipline is never pleasant, but painful. But it yields the fruit of righteousness and peace (v.11). Our character is moulded, and we experience the peace of knowing that we are the better for what we have undergone. Such is the testimony of a young athletic girl who broke her neck one day in a diving accident. Now bound to a wheelchair, Joni Eareckson says, "What else could have made me take stock of my life like the accident? I was cruising blandly through life. Everything was going my way…. Then the bottom dropped out. Only this accident, I believe, was strong enough to show me what a fool I had been, leaving God out of my life…. I thank God for the painful lesson I learned."

As C.S. Lewis writes, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains." Therefore, we are urged, "…Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees." (v.12). Some are already drooping their shoulders and dragging their feet in the race. Let us take heart even as we experience God's loving discipline. It is for our good and His glory.

How am I taking the Father's discipline?