Whenever a passage of Scripture begins with that dangerous word, “therefore,” it means that you must go back to the previous passage to pick up the context of what’s coming next. This morning in Hebrews I opened to chapter 12 and found the familiar statement: “Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet.” [12:12-13 NKJV]
The writer is talking about renewing our spiritual vitality – those hands which hang down in despair and the feeble knees which may no longer hold us up or keep us praying as we should. Realizing that the exhortation began with that dangerous word “therefore,” I looked back at the previous passage.
It is all about the discipline of the LORD. It begins in verse 1 and ends with these words in verse 11. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” [NKJV]
There surely is nothing joyful about discipline while it is going on. It’s downright painful. It is humiliating to be reminded that we fall short of what we should be as children of God. It is, however, absolutely necessary when we do fall short as children of the Father to respond to God’s discipline correctly.
When we receive the discipline of God as an offering of His love and allow it to train us to be what God wants us to be, it yields, or brings to life, righteousness in us.
How often we sing joyfully, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” without realizing that one of the ways God’s faithfulness is expressed to us is in discipline.
Thank you, Father. Amen.
