Wednesday, October 21, 2015
discipline is a blessing
As the Israelites enter their long journey through the desert to the Promised Land, they encounter many challenges including lack of drinking water and shortage of food. We witness God meeting all their grumbles and needs through various miracles. The Israelites, upon receiving what they complained about, become happy quickly and eagerly reach out their hands to receive, receive, receive from the Lord. More. More. More. But nobody was as enthusiastic about getting Ten Commandments that would serve as rules to guide and discipline the People of God. How about us today? Are we happy when our bellies and lives are filled with the desires of our hearts but unhappy when God tells us how to live our lives? Do we reject His discipline and commands but gladly gobble up all the blessings He showers us as long as they are the things we hoped for? The Bible says God disciplines those He loves, as a father disciplines the son he loves. Teaching our minds to view discipline positively will help us become mature men and women of God. Our society and media teach us today that when you love someone, you give them what they want: sex, marriage, children, extravagant gifts, lavish dates, fancy vacations, all your free time and energy, money, and heart. The Bible, however, speaks the truth when it says you would be wise to choose whatever God thinks is best for someone you love, even if that means hurting their feelings by challenging them to never settle for anything less than the best of whom God intended them to be. Let us not be neglectful towards enforcing and heeding Godly discipline in our lives.
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Thank you for this reflection. Accepting disciple from God and showing Godly discipline towards others is hard to do but so important. I pray that God can help me and fellow UPers to desire to grow in this area. Amen.
ReplyDeletereminded of somebody telling me once, "discipline is not a means to our salvation, rather a fruit of our salvation." indeed, discipline is a blessing.
ReplyDeletethe apostle paul emphasized discipline so much in his words to the Corinthian church, to the point where he says that he trains himself like a true athlete, to be of good servitude, so he would not miss out on the prize himself.
when i think of discipline from the Lord, i see a good amount of self-control involved. drinking too much, sex, talking openly with no discernment, just to name a few, are a few common areas that the bible warns us about. to wrestle not WITH God, but BEFORE him with these worldly things can really exercise our perseverance.
also, discipline from the Lord comes when good things are taken away. Paul talks about this somewhere, where he actually welcomes the bad things so he can fellowship with the Lord when bad things happen.
good stuff. can we list the verses we are going through in the bible for reference? thanks!