God's Discipline Should be Welcomed
Happy new week! I hope you had a restful weekend. I attended a very beautiful wedding on Saturday; the joys of seeing two genuine Christians get married was palpable. Hearing the gospel shared on that day, and giving Christ his glory due, reminded me of what marriage points to – Christ and his church. Let’s get into today’s topic - Discipline.
I am sure many of you here remember your childhood. If your parents told you not to do something, and you did it, then you got in some kind of trouble. I remember my mother plucking branches from the trees we had in the house, with the purpose of using it to flog my brother, who was falling behind on his schoolwork.
Our parents disciplined us for a plethora of reasons, and this was because they desired for us to be well-behaved and do better. I believe love was also the driving force behind most of their discipline as they didn’t want us to become a nuisance to society, and so bring disgrace to the family name.
In the same way God disciplines his children. Although his reasons are far deeper than the one of our parents. The bible tells us that who the Lord loves, he disciplines. If he leaves us to our devices, then we will be doomed for destruction. Though discipline when it is happening, seems like a bad thing, it is for our good. Hebrews 12:5 encourages us with this: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.”
What does discipline from God look like?
I had no idea or expectations of what yesterday’s message at my church was going to be about. In fact, I was exhausted from the day before, so much so that when I arrived late at church, I was contemplating entering the service at all. “I’ll just serve for second service, which I was scheduled for, and call it a day.” I thought to myself. However, when I was approaching the auditorium, I heard them still praising, and decided to go in. And I am so glad that I did.
After the ceremony on Saturday, as I was driving to the location for the reception, I saw some children in traffic begging for food. I felt bad, especially because I knew that I was heading to a wedding party, where I was going to fill my stomach with all kinds of food. I did not have any food or snack with me at the time, and I desist from giving children money, especially after watching Slumdog Millionaire. Though an Indian movie, it shared striking similarities when it comes to children begging on the streets and the terrible adults behind the scheme.
Anyway, a thought popped into my mind: why don’t you go and get food from a nearby fast-food restaurant, and give it to them? I wrestled with that thought; I didn’t want to make a detour. Then I thought, “what if I come back and don’t see them? These children move around quickly.” Then a counter thought emerged – you will always find someone who is hungry to give the food to. I somehow pushed that thought aside and went on to enjoy myself at the wedding. Although I felt extremely convicted and would ask God for mercy later, with a promise to do better.
So, I often pray this prayer: God discipline me, when necessary, in fact if you see me straying, I don’t care the amount of flogging you need to flog me to get back on track, because I’d rather be in your will, than away from it.” This prayer was answered on Sunday, through the sermon that was preached.
The title of the sermon was – This is not a vacation. The premise was centered on the fact that Christians do not exist to live a soft life. The teacher began his sermon by asking this question – how many people are in Lagos? We answered. He then went ahead to say, out of those number of people, let’s say 60% of them are genuine Christians, that means that the remaining 40% of the population of Lagos, if they don’t hear about Christ, and/or turn away from their unbelief and sinful ways, are going to burn to hell. You could feel the silence which pervaded the atmosphere at this point, which begs the question: As Christians, what are we doing?
Are we here to just pursue a great career path, amass wealth, and seek our comfort? In Mark 6, while Jesus gave his disciples instructions as he was sending them out to share the gospel, he told them not to carry bread, extra clothing, and even money. They were on a mission to spread the good news, and on that mission, Jesus made them put aside their comfort for the sake of the gospel.
The day before, I was unwilling to make a short detour, to inconvenience myself, to give those hungry children food. What would have been an opportunity for me to do good for the sake of Christ and bring glory to him, I disregarded for my own comfort.
We are daily surrounded by unbelievers, the poor, and even people who claim to be Christians, (but no fruit to accompany their belief in Christ). So, what are we doing? Are we so wrapped up in our lives and personal pursuit for riches, that we forget the purpose for which God created us or saved us?
We are not here to live our best or soft lives; this is not why Jesus was nailed to the cross. Jesus was willing to leave his comfort behind for a period, for the sake of the world, just so we don’t bear the penalties for our own sins – because God’s wrath must be satisfied. As such, what manner of love and sacrifice is this?
As he did for us, he expects us to do for others. This is not to say wealth is bad, however, there is a way God has called us to steward wealth if we come into it. The scripture says in Jeremiah 9: 23- 24 – “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
1 Timothy 6:17-19 says: “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
When a Christ follower does good, they do it in the name of the Lord. And if the person they are doing good to doesn’t know Christ, that goodness most times opens opportunities for the gospel to be shared. If a Christian does good to another Christian, it results in thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:13).
What comforted me after the message was being preached, was when our lead pastor got on stage and concluded with – “The Lord disciplines who he loves.” Which is a verse taken out of Hebrews 12: 5-6, “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.”
When we are awakened to such truths, it’s because God loves us, and wants us to do better with the time and resources, he has blessed us with. My prayer later that night was for me not only to be a hearer of the word, but also a doer, if not I will be deceiving myself (James 1:22).
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