The author of Hebrews encourages us to run the race of life by faith in Jesus Christ (Heb 12:1-2), and then a few verses later he helps us understand that part of enduring our race is embracing the discipline of the Lord. So it is that he turns our attention toward Proverbs 3:11-12 and asks the question, “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives’” (Prov 3:11-12).
The word “son or sons” is used 23 times in the book of Proverbs and 15 times in those crucial opening chapters. This word reveals to us the heart of a Father calling out to his children that he might persuade them to pursue wisdom and forsake foolishness. The Father is reaching out to them in love. He is trying to help them see that his ways are better than all other ways. And so this word of exhortation that reasons with us for our good begins with the loving heart of our Father reaching out to his children: “My son,” which should be understood as, “My sons and daughters” or “My children.”
With this as a basis, the Lord goes on to offer us two exhortations: first, don’t regard lightly my discipline in your lives, and second, don’t grow weary when I have to chastise you. The wisdom of God is very great and the speech of God is very valuable, and so our Father begins by saying, “Listen, when I speak a word into your lives, don’t just blow it off. Don’t treat it as though it has little or no value. I’m investing pure, heavenly gold into your lives, and I want you to receive it as such. Don’t be arrogant and think you know better than me. Don’t be haughty and ignore me when I speak to you. Don’t treat me lightly by taking my words lightly.”
Then he says, “My son…do not be weary when reproved by him.” When the Lord seeks to parent us, sometimes we react by taking his words lightly and sometimes we react by getting deflated and depressed and weary. The Greek word for “weary” here means “to dry up or evaporate,” so the idea is that we lose courage, hope, and desire. We feel like we can’t measure up. We feel like we’ll never be good enough. We feel like we’ll never make it to the end of the race. We feel like quitting. The Lord is saying, “Don’t let this happen to you because I’m for you and not against you—assume that I’m for you!”
Beloved, do you see and feel the Father’s heart for his children? He’s calling on us to lay aside all of the weights and sins that are keeping us from running the race together as he would have us run it, and then saying, “While I have to discipline you along the way, I discipline you because I love you and I long for you to finish your race by faith. So trust me and embrace my fatherly discipline.” I can’t think of a more loving thing that a Father could say to his children, and I pray that we’ll receive it that way today.
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