By Pastor Steve Nickodemus

The Discipline of God

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“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 
Hebrews 12:6 English Standard Version

As we prepared to bring in a shipping container for our scout troop’s gear, we dug out the sod, laid down landscaping fabric, and spread a thick layer of gravel over the top of it.  We wanted to make sure that the container would be set in correctly and that the foundation would be properly prepared.  It was a lot of work, but we knew it would be worth it.

God loves us so much that He is willing to put in the extra work to make sure that we might properly contain His Good News and know what to do with it.  He is willing to dig in extra deep and prepare the foundation in our hearts and minds to be His witnesses and follow Him.  One way that God prepares us to be His containers, vessels for His use, is to discipline us.  The Lord is like a good parent, willing to discipline us with affliction and hardship so that we might mature and produce a peaceful harvest of righteousness.

We do not always like this chastening, this discipline.  We often would prefer the easy, quick path to spiritual maturity.  But there is no such thing.  Just as our Lord Jesus suffered and was chastised, so the Lord calls us to take up our cross and follow Him.  It is through the testing and hardship of life that we learn to depend on Christ alone and learn His character and depth of maturity.

As any good athlete knows, success comes through hard work and sweat and yes, some pain.  And so it is with maturity in following Christ.  Jesus said that to gain our life we must lose it for the Gospel’s sake.  Do not think that the Lord is being cruel to you when you suffer trials, but consider it all joy as He builds the character of Jesus in you.  It is all worth it!  Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church Colorado Springs, Colorado