The Lord Disciplines Those He Loves

We read Nehemiah this week. We particularly enjoyed Chapter 9, which is a recitation of all the events we’ve been learning about all year. God’s people were being reminded that He is faithful. He was faithful when He created the heavens and the earth. He was faithful when He chose Abram and brought him out of the Chaldeans, and faithful when He made a covenant with him and changed his name to Abraham. He led His people out of Egypt, and parted the Red Sea, gave them manna from heaven, and water from the rock. He brought them into the Promised Land.

And what did His people do? “They built a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you out of Egypt’, and they committed awful blasphemies” (Nehemiah 9:18).

We talked about the fact that the Lord is faithful, even when His people sin. One of the children pointed out that these Scriptures also illustrate that the Lord will not let sin go unpunished forever. He disciplines those He loves.

We read Hebrews 12 and talked about the purpose of discipline. The passage says that, for those who will be trained by it, God’s discipline brings about a harvest of righteousness and peace. The children thought a world with no discipline might be fun, but then they imagined for a moment what their brothers would act like if they were allowed to do anything they wanted. No one thought that home sounded very peaceful!

We also talked about what happens when people don’t respond to discipline. If one of my children does not respond to my discipline, what does mommy do? She makes the discipline more unpleasant, in hopes of yet winning his repentance. But she doesn’t kick him out of the family! Mommy does not give up on this precious son.

We read in Hebrews 12: 5-6, “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, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.'”

We are meant to feel encouraged that the Lord disciplines us when we need it. Discipline is a sign of love and of family belonging. We read in the Hebrews passage that it is only the illegitimate child who escapes discipline. This is why we often see worldly sinners prospering, seemingly “getting away with murder”. A lack of discipline for sin can be a sign of judgment to come.