“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens every he accepts as his son” (Hebrews 12:5-6).
Love.
What do you think of when you hear that word?
Discipline, rebuke, chastening.
Not on your list?
It’s not on the list for most modern day Americans either.
But God tells us that because he loves us, he disciplines us when we go astray. He rebukes us when we are wrong. He chastens us when we’re about to go astray.
Why does God discipline, rebuke, and chasten? Precisely because he loves us. He wants what’s best for us.
Our society lives under the illusion that God is a benign, soft-hearted, compassionate figure who just wants to do for us what we’d like to do for ourselves.
That’s insane. That’s not God. That’s a Genie. That’s a wish-giving ATM.
John Piper writes, “A child needs to feel profoundly secure, profoundly loved, cherished, and enjoyed, AND profoundly under authority. And those are not contradictory.”
What John Piper writes about children is also true for children of God.
We are, at the same time, profoundly loved, cherished, and enjoyed, AND profoundly under God’s authority and care because he loves us.
You can be absolutely secure in that.
Praxis: Faith in Action 