I don't think discipline is anyone's favourite subject. The word screams 'work'. This is about the time when most people are giving up their New Year's resolutions. Disciplining yourself is difficult as it is, but being disciplined by someone else is another thing entirely.

Hebrews 12:6 says that the Lord disciplines His children. Well, who wants that? I get visions of a bony finger pointing at my face with disappointment due to another one of my screw-ups. Keep reading...the following verse states that God uses hardship to discipline his children. Boy, this is going to be a difficult sermon to sell.

However, through the hardship and through the discipline there is no bony finger pointing. Instead there is a hand beckoning. There is nothing like hardship to send us running into the arms of God. The Old Testament is filled with stories of God disciplining the Israelites, and each time He is calling them back to Himself.

Are you suffering hardship right now? Is this circumstance leading you to the Father?

This Sunday I would like to unpack God's purpose for discipline. Until then, consider your response to hardship and compare it to God's intended purpose. If it does not make you feel loved, let's pray together that you would see the Father's heart.

See you on Sunday.

Bjorn