Quote for the Day
“…Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”
Today's Prayer
This week seek God’s face, asking Him to reveal His care for you. Ask Him to allow you to think as a child and respond to His love and care.
Hebrews 12:1-13
Hebrews 12:1-13 (NIV)1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “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 those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 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 our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, 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.
Message
For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines (chastises)Wow. In the last few weeks we have seen example after example of those men and women who have “made the grade” and been written down in the “hall of faith.” Now we look this week and see words like endure, run, preserve, struggle, resist, endure and lots of other very hard things. We have talked much about the understanding of resting in God as the exercise of our faith. But is life just filled with tough times to teach us hard lessons? T. Austin Sparks, in his book God’s Spiritual House helps us understand a few of the words used in these verses of Hebrews. We are in a school for a tremendous destiny. We are in the school which has as its end something of such significance and importance that we can scarce imagine; and so we have not to regard lightly the child-training of the Lord. Oh, again our human ideas must not be brought into the Divine realm when we use the word “chastening.” What a poor translation! Even the Revisers have not helped us very much. It is simply “child-training.” I think that, as a youngster, that chapter in Hebrews was my pet aversion in the Bible when I heard it read! My whole being rose up against that. I suppose that is quite natural; but if only we had been given the two words instead of that deplorable word “chastening.” It might at least have taken the edge off things. “My son, despise not thou the child-training of the Lord.” There is something better about that. “Whom the Lord loveth. He trains.” He child-trains. God is not looking over us daily with his rod of justice seeking to correct our every wrong-doing. He IS watching over us loving us as His children, expecting us to respond as a child – in complete trust.