Thursday after the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 6, 2022 by under
Scripture: Hebrews 12:4-11 (NKJV)
12:4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Devotion
We should not be glad “in spite of” earthly trials, as though trials were a necessary evil. This text teaches that we should be glad “because of” earthly trials, because trials endured in faith and prayer testify that we are true children of God.
Christians and non-Christians suffer differently. To Christians, our Lord says, “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). But of the wicked, Scripture says, “God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts” (Rom. 1:24). While Christians suffer persecution, the wicked are allowed to do what they want; and the wicked are worse off for it. King David prays, “Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man” (2 Sam. 24:14). How much worse still if God let us fall into the hand of our own sinful imaginations? It is better to suffer unjustly than to fall into sin. Those who do suffer unjustly and endure it with prayer have the assurance and the comfort that God counts them as sons.
If you suffer and you pray to the Christ for deliverance, know that you are saved, because only true faith can so pray. Meanwhile, the wicked are destroying themselves.
Prayer: Lord, we pray Thee, that Thy grace may always go before and follow after us, and make us continually given to all good works; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
