Recently I was in a grocery store where I witnessed several young children racing up and down the aisles, screaming, knocking into shoppers and their carts, knocking food off the shelves, all while their mother ignored the bad behavior and continued to shop and talk on her phone. At the other extreme, I have known of parents who abused their children to the point of them needing to go to the hospital. That is naturally worse, but the former also shows very poor parenting and discipline, and will certainly be detrimental to the child when they get older. In our Scripture passage from the Book of Hebrews we will look at the discipline of the Lord, and how important that is for believers.
Those children racing through the grocery store may have thought they were having a good time, and probably would have resented anyone telling them to stop their wild antics. However, undisciplined children grow into undisciplined teens, and then adults, and all sorts of problems come from that. They really need to have a parent who will set guidelines and limits to behavior, and punish them when they need it. A good and loving parent will do this. The same is true in our spiritual life. Our good and loving Heavenly Father will discipline His children when necessary.
The Christians who the author of Hebrews wrote to were not happy about any godly discipline they were experiencing, and were complaining and resenting it, so he wrote to them, explaining why this was necessary. Had that mother called her children to her, and kept them by her side in a well-behaved manner, that would have been good for them in the long run, and good for everyone else, too!
Trials and suffering in the Christian life come from God, who uses them to educate and discipline believers by such experiences (vs. 5-6). Afflictions are designed on the part of God to produce positive effects in the lives of His people. We need to learn the lesson desired to be taught. They are evidence of God’s love for His children.
Our author gives a quote from Proverbs 3:11-12, which tells us that it is because the Lord loves us that He disciplines us when it is necessary, and that this is not something that we should despise or get discouraged over. Who really loves their child more - the parent who lets the child do whatever they want, even if it could lead to harm, or the parent who corrects, trains, and punishes the child to help them learn what is right? God’s correction is proof of His love for us.
Chastening from the Lord shows we are His children (vs. 7). Many claim to be believers while continuing in sin, and the Lord never chastens them. Such shows that they are illegitimate, having never truly been saved (vs. 8). Because we are all imperfect and need discipline and training, all true children of God will be chastened at one time or another, in one way or another.
Imperfect human parents will discipline imperfectly, yet most people realize as they grow older that their parent’s discipline was good and necessary. God is our perfect Father, and therefore His discipline is perfect, and always for the spiritual good of His children (vs. 9-10). Respect for God will show submission to His will and law. Those who willingly receive the Lord’s chastening will have a richer, more abundant life.
There are some Christians today who feel that we cannot displease God, and that He will never punish believers. Perhaps they are responding to harsher views and teachings about God from centuries ago, and a misunderstanding of unconditional love. However, God’s purity, justice, and hatred of sin are a part of His love for us. God is not a permissive grandparent, overlooking our sin. The condemnation spoken of in Romans 8:1 is different from discipline and punishment. Condemnation is the final verdict.
In closing, we all agree that we usually don’t like discipline (vs. 11). We didn’t like it from our parents, and we aren’t overjoyed with it from God. It is never pleasant. It requires a change in us. Deeply entrenched sinfulness and destructive habits are rooted out, and our earthly sources of security are destroyed. God does it for our good, and it can increase our faith. If we cooperate with God when He corrects us, we will become more like Him, and great blessings will result.
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