MOVING FORWARD: BECOMING A MORE DISCIPLINED CHURCH Hebrews 12:5,6
Preamble
Congratulations to the Women Missionary Union on this occasion. I seized this medium to appreciate you for all your efforts and contributions to the development of FBC, Oke’lerin in 2019.
The topic before us is the Nigerian Baptist Convention Theme for 2020. I bet you we’ve got a lot to learn from this theme this year. This text is originally found in Proverbs 3:11,12. It’s part of the wisdom King Solomon shared with the young people in his days.
"My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights."
An Overview of Hebrew 12:5,6
I have the leading to share three basic truths with you from this text. These are:
- Discipline (instructive and corrective training) is meant for bonafide children.
God doesn’t discipline anyone outside His purview. Divine discipline is part of God’s responsibility to you as His child. God faithfully fulfills this role.
- Discipline is a sign of God’s love.
God’s love for you compels Him to check, correct, instruct, rebuke and warn you. His corrections would be coming to you this year through various instruments. The more God corrects you, the more His love for you. He rebuked David through Prophet Nathan so that he would end up becoming a disaster. David became better for it.
- It’s going to be your wisdom to fully cooperate with God’s discipline. Don’t despise the chastening of the Lord. Don’t get discouraged whenever the Lord rebukes you. He has your best interest at heart. If He confronts you with His Word, accept that He is right and you are wrong. David accepted the Lord’s rebuke through Nathan and he was restored.
Conclusion
Let’s pray like David in Psalm 139:23,4. Here, David was proactive about divine discipline. He invited God to his life. Please ask the Lord to do same in your life.
- Lord, search my heart
- Lord, purify my motives
- Lord, delete every evil in me
- Lord, plant Your will in me