Sunday, August 21, 2016

Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13

Brothers and sisters,
You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:
“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges.”
Endure your trials as “discipline”;
God treats you as sons.
For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time,
all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

It’s a matter of perspective.

What a parent sees as love a child sees as pain, suffering, and punishment. How many of us as children have said, “When I have kids I will never do (fill in the blank) to them.” Then as parents we not only find ourselves doing that very thing to our kids but we find that we now understand that it is necessary, our duty as parents, and done solely because we love our children and want the best for them.

My father was a strict man. He ruled through fear and the wrath of his hand. He never once beat me but he did give out punishment for wrongdoing. Looking back as an adult I now know that my father was the greatest teacher I have ever had. He taught disciple and right from wrong. He put me on the path I walk today. I wish I could be half the father he tried to be.

The first step to wisdom is fear of the Lord. When we see fear through modern definition we think of cowering from wrath. The older definition of fear is respect. The first step to wisdom is respect for the Lord. The first person of God is Father. A loving father teaches his children. Punishment is nothing more than a way to teach. Discipline as a noun means the study of or a teaching. A disciple is someone who studies a certain teaching. The Disciples were students of Jesus.

A father who does not discipline does not love his children. One of the most important words a child has to be taught is No. No establishes boundaries. We live at a time where the word No is taboo. Modern society wants to live without boundaries. We want to be able to define for ourselves who and what we are. When a child strays past the boundaries a loving father will use discipline to bring them back.

Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.