A Father's Discipline...

"Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son."--Deuteronomy 8:5.  Moses, reminding the people that during their time in the wilderness, they were not only being tested but they were also being disciplined.  They were being taught a father's discipline.

A Father's Discipline. The definition of the Hebrew word for discipline as it is used here means "to teach" or "to bring up" (HALOT 419).  Most often when we think of discipline, namely a father's discipline, we tend to think of punishment but there is a lot more to a father's discipline than that.

A Father's Discipline.  Hebrews 12:4-11 paints a picture of our heavenly Father's discipline and it's purpose.  It is not to inflict pain but as the Hebrew word describes, it is meant to teach or to bring us up in the way we should go.  Discipline may involve punishment but that punishment is not meant to harm but to teach in order that we do what is right.  This is the nature of the Father's discipline.

A Father's Discipline.  So how does this all relate to us?  Well I think we would all agree that being a Christian is not always easy.  But also remember we are DISCIPLES of Christ.  The word disciple of course comes from the word discipline.  It is one thing to be a follower of Christ but it is quite another to be a disciple.  In the Scriptures we can see that many followed Christ for their personal gain but fewer were truly disciples.

There have been times when doing what God would have us to do has been difficult.  There may have also been times when we failed to do God's will and dealt with some immediate consequences including failing to honor our earthly father occasionally which prompted some sort of discipline or teaching.  A father's, even the heavenly Father's discipline is not always easy.

A Father's Discipline.  Bottom line, discipline is meant to instruct, not to harm.  Discipline is a sign that our father and our heavenly Father loves us enough to steer us in the right direction so that we can learn to what is right in God's eyes.  This is a father's discipline.

A Father's Discipline.  If you are a father and are reading this, I would like to leave you with Ephesians 6:4 which states "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." As Christians, we are all father's (or mothers) in some way because us older Christians have a responsibility to what we can to teach (discipline) the next generation of Christians so that they may continue to do God's will after we are gone.  So again, if you are reading this and are a father take some time to review what God expects fathers to do when it comes to raising your children as the Lord would have them to be raised.  If you are not a father yourself, take some time to do what you can to teach a younger Christian about what it means to be not just a follower of Christ but a DISCIPLE of Christ.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!