The one He loves

“because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.” (Hebrews 12:6)

 

Modern times are also called the era of human rights and democracy. Human rights and democracy have existed from the past, but universal equality has not been achieved almost. In modern times, a problem is that social order and stability are collapsing due to excessive individualism leaned to selfishness. One problem that occurred in home education is that parents became unable to discipline their children by rod. Due to the wrong few parents, an education of healthy majority has come to be disregarded. Moreover, it is a very regrettable thing that the teaching of Bible is sanctioned by incomplete humanities’ influences.

 

Humans are the real existence of suffering and sin, and life is a process of continuous struggle. And the world is the place like a stadium where countless people look at each other. Most of people in that stadium race to be difficult with heavy burden of sins on their backs. They don’t have a right goal, so it has not to be so easy to race. Christians also run like others, but there are no burdens of sin on their backs. But even if they solved heavy burdens, their running will not be easy because it’s a race that needs patience. But Christians can move on with patience, as the Lord Jesus Christ, who had crucified, has been set as a clear goal to themselves.

There is a difference between them whether everyone runs samely but bears burden of the sin or not. The problem of sin has an essential connection to the goals oneself is aiming for. For those who run with the burden of sin, the goal of running cannot be definite, so the weight of uncertainty with of the sin would make themselves more difficult at the same time. Unlike them, but Christians who have already handed over all the burdens of sin to Jesus Christ and have clear goals can run toward the Lord much freely.

Anybody who is believing in Christ can energetically maintain the daily life. People intend commonly to set objects to respect and follow among the persons. Seeing at a huge popularity of some idols in the entertainment society, it is questionable how their fans can be that enthusiastic. Although, respect and passion between people may change and some day it will cool down. Differently to that, the life of a person reborn in the Spirit of Christ is sometimes weak and may change, but it will never collapse at last.

Because Christians are also vulnerable humans, they also might be knocked down and injured by various difficulties during the race of life. But whenever that happens, the Spirit of Christ will hold and help them. When our life is hard and difficult, the Holy Spirit urges us to think about the hardships of Christ. Think of Christ, the creator who was ridiculed and persecuted by the creature. And Lord who was crucified, how dare to compare my difficulties to the Lord’s? No matter how hard I am, it will not be as hard as Christ’s suffering of Crucifixion. Nevertheless, there have been many times before when I had complained and resented. It was my past looks frankly that I had lived in an explicit and habitual disbelief of the Lord.

One of severe punishments given to wrong person is a rod. If possible, it is desirable to handle everything with good words without doing rod. However, people need good words and also sometimes rod. In Proverbs 22:15, it says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.” If humanity is good only, words alone will be enough to correct them, but we know that the humanity is not. Therefore, we must be wary of the foolishness of blindly following the thinking of those who do not know what sin is. Individualism, democracy, equality, human rights, all these are important of course. Although, we should realize through the faith what is more important in life.

 

Parents’ disciplinary action would be a sign that they are loved children to their parents. But, if the discipline by parents is performed like habitual assault, it is valueless matter for the discipline of love to be applied to this. It is written in the Bible, the Lord disciplines for His loved ones. Anyone who had suffered the existential agony in the process of faith life would know well the fact that the Lord’s disciplinary action is necessary. The whip of the Lord had given pain to oneself a moment, but the pain raised new flesh in the life and served as a significant opportunity to move on to a better life.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Jan 30th 2022)