^4 (J)You have not yet resisted ^[d](K)to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; ⁵ and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

   “^(L)MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, 
NOR ^(M)FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 
^6 (N)FOR THOSE ^(O)WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, 
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

 ⁷ It is for discipline that you endure; ^(P)God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline, ^(Q)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we had ^[e]earthly fathers to discipline us, and we ^(R)respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to ^(S)the Father of ^[f]spirits, and ^(T)live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines usfor our good, ^(U)so that we may share His holiness. ¹¹ All discipline ^(V)for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the ^(W)peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:4-11 ASV)

This passage begins by quoting Proverbs 3:11-12. How often we despise and ignore the LORD’s discipline, often not even realizing that our set backs and infirmities come directly from him or by his permission. I will give you just a quick recent example from my own life.

I have known for fifteen years now that the LORD’s second coming is at hand. A month or two before the time of Passover in 1997 I began to hear that the nearing comet named Hale-Bopp was a harbinger of Christ’s coming.  I was not thinking too much about that in those days.  I had been a Christian for 20 years and pretty much fallen in the “post millennial” camp of Christendom.  I was a third term Missouri State Legislator and believed that Christians would ultimately turn the world upside down for Christ and usher in his kingdom.  So, I did not pay too much attention to these new “prophecies” I was hearing.  But, around April 16, 1997, just five days after what is said to be the closest approach of Hale-Bopp to earth, I decided to go out into the country to look at it. It was a clear night and I easily saw it with my naked eye. It was the most magnificent thing I ever remember seeing in the heavens, but as I looked at it I thought, “It seems to be leaving the earth, not coming toward it.” Just then the voice of the LORD spoke to me, “If that had been me, you would have missed my coming!” “Oh  no,” I thought, “I had better start watching!”

And I did start watching. A little over a year later I really, really believed I would see Jesus come at the Feast of Pentecost in 1998.  I waited up almost all night with my wife and five children by a camp fire waiting for the LORD. At that time my oldest child was only sixteen and my youngest four. We watched, and hoped, and watched some more, but nothing happened. But, since those early years of watching my wife and I have seen increasing signs of Christ’s second coming, and we believe this to be imminent.

Even so, how does one carry on life day to day just watching for Jesus’ return? We all have things we like to do and various interests we participate in. Well, two months ago I decided it was time to get into better physical shape and to also learn a new style of music that I could play with local musicians (bluegrass). So, I spent $2,000 on a new treadmill and weights and began to learn the new guitar style. Within a day of making the treadmill order I was hit with a bout of gout that has not left me since. It has now been seven weeks and I have not been able to use the new health devices and did not pursue the new guitar style at all. (I had been going to one or two acoustic jams a week for the few weeks before this hit me, and have only gone to one since then)

But, in the first two weeks of this gout attack the excruciating pain caused me to lie awake at night. So, I got up for several days and read commentaries by Leland Earls from 11:00 PM until 2:00 AM until I could finally fall asleep. The LORD revealed new truths to me concerning these extraordinary days in which we live. I expected the pain to leave at least by the end of two weeks, especially considering the medications and natural remedies I took, but my left foot is still not healed. I feel in a way as Jacob must have felt when God crippled his thigh during their wrestling match. The fight left Jacob crippled for life, but he was a better man for it.

And so do I count this present attack on my health. God could heal me in an instant, but he has chosen not to. Instead, he chose to discipline me in my flesh so that, I think, I might better hear him. We get so distracted by the things of this world, even as we see the end approach. We have not resisted to the point of shedding our blood in our strife against sin, and so God must continue to discipline and humble us before him so that we do not go astray. Therefore do not regard his discipline lightly. Know that he disciplines those that he loves as the mother and father discipline the child they love.

Yes, discipline remains hard for us to endure, but remember, the goal and end of our discipline is the peaceful fruit of righteousness. And do not forget, without holiness (righteousness) no one will see God!