Walking with the Wise #206: His Loving Hand

“There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way;

whoever hates reproof will die.”
—Proverbs 15:10

By believing in Jesus, we are born again—born not of flesh, nor of blood, but born of the Spirit (cf. John 1:13)—born into God’s family, becoming God’s children (cf. John 1:12). And as His children, we can expect His chastising hand whenever we turn from Him. If we willingly choose sin over God, God will lovingly and severely remind us who and whose we are. As the Bible says,

“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.’

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”—Hebrews 12:5-11.

God will chastise us when we turn from Him, and if we persist in turning from Him, He will hasten about our death, as we are reminded in Paul’s admonition concerning the Lord’s Supper:

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world”—1 Corinthians 11:27-32.

God wants your heart and desires what is best for you and would rather take your life than let you continue in the evil pollution of sin that is hurtful to your soul. Choosing sin over the Savior is spitting on the sacrifice of Jesus. He died to free you from sin, not so that you would continue in it. To choose sin over the Savior is saying that Jesus’ death meant nothing.

Are you persistently turning to sin and away from the Savior? Are you feeling His loving hand of discipline right now? Know that God loves you and won’t let you go. He loves you so much He gave His Son to die for you.

May the Lord our God keep us from sin, and may we recognize His loving hand of discipline. May we not despise it; rather may we submit to it, knowing that it is out of His love for us that He disciplines us. Amen.