He Brews…Faith (Pt. 2)
Oh there is just so much goodness packed into Hebrews 12, as the author continues chapter 11’s faith discussion by roping in Godly discipline, endurance, and the dire need for us to listen for God’s voice. If I were to summarize it in simple terms, I think I would use this statement: “Suck it up, keep going! You’re not in this alone.” Thankfully, this chapter is not suggesting we muster up the strength to carry on from within ourselves; rather, it’s a call to a higher perspective in which we embrace suffering as what’s actually equipping us to “run this race.” In fact, the author even suggests that if we aren’t receiving discipline from God Himself, we’re actually not even in the race at all (v. 8).
Verse ten expresses that “God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in His holiness.” What I found extremely interesting was that a little further down through this chapter in verse 14, there is a call to “...work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” It occurred to me that, in essence, receiving discipline from the Lord is the key to us seeing and experiencing Him in the flesh. We know that we cannot be holy apart from the Lord, so His discipline is actually a gift; it paves the way for us to know Him more and to become more like Him. Holy means to be “set apart,” and we are set apart by God when we are disciplined in His love, because the more we are taught and counseled by His Spirit, the less we look like the rest of the world.
If you’ve ever received a spanking or getting grounded by your earthly father, you know that there’s nothing enjoyable about it – verse 11 touches on that. However, it leads on to say that after the Lord’s discipline, “there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” See, there will be no harvest for us to reap as believers if we are not pruned by the Lord. There is no escaping this process; if you say you want to give your life to Jesus, this truly means the death of your flesh and the birth of your eternal spirit. God will take you at your request and treat you as His child because He absolutely adores you and wants to bring out the freest, most lively version of yourself possible to reflect His light. Why as Christians do we want to take this lightly, as if there is a way to remain a close reflection of this world while also bearing the true light of Christ? You cannot be both people; you cannot serve two masters – “you will hate one and love the other” (Matt. 6:24). You have to choose who you want to be, for the Lord despises the lukewarm (Rev. 3:16).
Right now, I’m just going to say it, there is a ton of lukewarm Christianity in this world; too many people claiming to be of Christ either supporting or remaining silent against earthly systems of death, false identities, and unrighteous living. As Paul puts it in Galatians One, as Christians, we should constantly be asking the Lord for increasing “direct revelation from Jesus Christ” (not just taking advice from other humans who aren’t Him) about what He’s doing in and around us; what He’s adding to, what He’s taking away so we that may become ever more free, reflecting His light. This is also reflected in Hebrews 12 as the means of how we continue to press on in the faith when challenges arise and we feel uncomfortable looking less and less like the world: “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” He has the final say. He is the source of all wisdom and understanding. If we ever have a disagreement about matters of faith, our first instinct ought to be faithfully seeking His voice, His answer. While we wait on Him to speak, we “keep running” with our hearts surrendered to Him as much as possible, prayerfully maintaining faith that we will soon hear from Him.
I feel I could go on and on about the depth of Hebrews 11 and 12, but I will just end with this: as children of God, we are destined for victory through our faith and discipline from our Heavenly Father. However, we can limit how much we truly embrace victory through Christ by not believing Him/His Word and/or not listening to Him. As I just heard it preached today on Glory of Zion International, “the Christian walk is simple; we just over-complicate it.” If you are consistently willing to change as a result of gaining revelation from God, you will truly be taken from “glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). It all begins with a choice, followed by endurance in faith.
✞
