Hebrews
12:10-11
Understand
today that a punishment is only affective when the one being punish learns
the errors of his/her ways and improves… There are many people who beat or
whip their children, but have not actually reached their child in a means to
correct them… It is important today to realize this because God disciplines us
in many ways and forms; however, it is “…for our profit, that we might be
partakers of his holiness…” The author of Hebrews reminds us today that God
punishes us out of love and a desire to see us succeed; if we truly reaped what
we have/had sown, then you and I would be in the midst of hell today; however, God
punishes to teach us the right way and for us to come to know and
understand that the path that we had choose originally was not the best path
for us to walk… As a child when I was whipped I thought that I was enduring the
most terrible feeling I could ever feel; however I never thought about how bad
a feeling that I placed in the hearts of my parents by conducting myself in a
manner that was not pleasing to them… I think we all can agree that there is
no fun in being whipped, but when we learn from our mistakes and begin to reap
the rewards of our transformation, then that unpleasant feeling is well worth
it… Short lived pain is always worth it when you receive a lifetime of
bliss… The author today wants you to know that the corrective measures God puts
in place are not intended to harm you, these devices get you on the straight
and narrow, they place you where He wants and needs you to be so that you can
reach and become what He designed you for… IThe author acknowledges that “…no
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous...” Discipline
isn’t well received; it isn’t something we want to endure and it painful to accept;
however the product that comes from it outweighs the pain that it inflects…
Look at it from this perspective; the hardest season for a farmer is
planting, but the most rewarding is the harvest... The planting season takes
endurance, discipline and a solid work ethic… Your season of planting in
God’s eyes comes through adversity; it begins in tribulations and will test
your faith and endurance… We accept trials and tribulations because we know
that the harvest (entering His gates) will make that season worthwhile… When
you go through adversity, God may very well be using these things to discipline
you and keep you from falling by the wayside… We all have heard the saying,
spare the rod and spoil the child; no one likes to be punished, no one likes to
suffer the consequences of their actions, but we find in today’s scripture that
the growing pains that we go through physically and spiritually are for our
benefit. Your parents don’t want to have to yell or spank you; however if that
will produce a good crop in you than that is what they will do… We have often
heard the saying from parents that it hurts me more than it hurts you; let us
realize the pain that the parents are focusing on is the feel of
disappointment, the feeling of frustration, hoping that there loved one would
walk the straight line. Punishment is used as a tool of correction;
biblically it is used so that we may be partakers of His holiness. The holiness
that is spoken of in this passage of scripture refers to the perfection of God,
we were created in His image (Genesis 1:27) but through our own desires we fell
out of His holiness. Through the growing pains we face, God wants to
re-establish the relationship we first had. No chastening seems joyous, but
push on; no punishments makes you smile at that time, but push on; no physical
or spiritual whippings are fun to endure, but push on; knowing that maturation
and the act of perfecting is taking place in you life, that correction
breeds perfection, and the peaceable fruit of righteousness spoken of in these
verses shall be yours to eat of! Paul said I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the race, I have kept the faith; these words were spoken by a man
that had been disciplined in the wilderness, blinded, stoned, imprisoned and
rejected, He goes on to say henceforth there is laid up for me a crown (get the
point)…
BE BLESSED!!!
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