Hebrews 12:7-8

Summary retelling of Hebrews 12:7-8

We endure life – and the things God asks us to go through – for the sake of discipline.  It is a demonstration that God considers us His children.  A father who truly loves his children also truly disciplines them for their own benefit.  If we do not receive the discipline of God then we are not really His children and we are illegitimate heirs because in that case He is not be demonstrating His true love.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The word endure is an interesting word.  Literally, to endure something implies some sort of struggle, difficulty, or suffering.  This is an honest confession of what it means to be a spiritual person in a secular world.  We must endure.  We will have to endure.  There will be plenty of obstacles and places to suffer in life.  To follow God implies taking an attitude of not letting the obstacles get in the way.

Why is it important to understand from the very beginning that to follow God implies that we will have to endure the world?  What does it look like when a person stops having an attitude of enduring the hard parts of following God?

Second Thought:

Discipline is another interesting word in this passage.  The author is trying to get us to believe that discipline is natural in a relationship of love.  To see his point, look to any parent/child relationship.  If a parent lets their child do absolutely anything they want, we know what happens to the child as they grow up and become adults (assuming they make it that far).  The child becomes spoiled, without concern for other people, and untrustworthy.  The way to prevent a child from becoming spoiled is to teach them limits and to establish reasonable boundaries.

Did your own parents put reasonable boundaries on your life?  Did you like those boundaries at the time?  Can you see now how the discipline of those boundaries helped shape you properly into the person you are today?

Third Thought:

The conclusion the author of Hebrews makes is also excellent.  If a parent disciplines a child out of love for them, then a child who doesn’t experience discipline is not loved.  Again, this is also true and visible.  Parents set boundaries out of care.  Thus, a child with no boundaries has a parent who doesn’t care what kind of an adult that they are becoming.  Therefore, if we live in life but never find ourselves having to endure life and deal with God’s discipline, then we must not have a meaningful relationship with the Father.

Are you disciplined by God?  What form does that discipline take?  How has your discipline from God changed you as a person in the last year or so?  In what ways have you tried to run from God’s discipline?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 12:9-11