The Discipline of the Lord.

How did God hate Esau (Romans 9:13)? I recently watched a short video where Paul Washer addresses this question. In his response Paul states that although God definitely blessed Esau, He did not discipline him. God allowed Esau to walk after the natural inclinations of his heart. He let him go.

It was different with Jacob however. Jacob was no saint either. He was a deceiver, and we all know how he ultimately stole Esau's birthright and blessing. However, God would not let him go. Jacob experienced the disciplining hand of the Lord for the next twenty years, and when he finally returned to the land of Canaan, he entered it limping. He was no longer Jacob the "supplanter", but now he was known as Israel, "a prince with God."

Hebrews 12:1-13 is a passage that draws out this theme. Our lives as Christians is likened to a race that must be run with endurance. We must cast of everything that slows us down, if we are to make it to the end.

I think we can all identify with the idea of besetting sins. There is a struggle within each one of us, and we often find ourselves on the failing end of things. But it is often the things that are not wrong in and of themselves that slow us down. 

Sometimes God has to get our attention, and that can be painful. Like a parent who desires to protect a child from harm, who desires to train them to walk in the right path, God also uses discipline so that we might share in His holiness. Again, this is often painful, and we might not like it. However, this pasage assures us that God loves us, and disciplines us as His children. In fact, if we do not experience the hand of His discipline we are not His children!

Ultimately, if we yield to God's discipline in our lives we will bear the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Jesus uses the illustration of a vinedresser pruning the branches so that they will bear more fruit. When the branches get to long, or there are useless ones, they need to be trimmed back or cut off. If they are left as they are, all the sap flowing through the vine is used up on these branches and there is little nutrition left for the formation of fruit. 

Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. God desires us to produce much fruit so He prunes us (John 15:1-2). All of the things in our lives that hinder need to go. Maybe it's a besetting sin that needs to go. Perhaps God needs to get are attention and we are not hearing Him. 

No discipline seems fun when we go through it, but remember God desires something better for us, and brings it for our good.