Chastening Of The Lord

"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."


While reading today I read these verses. A couple of words just jumped out at me. It is so interesting to me how you can read something over and over again but yet something new stands out to you.

The first word that jumped out at me was scourgeth. The definition of scourge is "a whip or lash, especially for the infliction of punishment or torture. " I thought about times that I have felt that lashing. But then I thought about the feeling after the lashing. The comfort that comes to remind us that he DOES love us.

The other word that stood out to me was the word "if"....It says "IF ye endure chastening". I see how in days past, that lashing has caused some to leave the service of God. I also see those that DO endure and the rejoicing that comes at the end and the feeling of being loved as a son/daughter. For those that endure a testimony fills their mouth. A testimony of God's goodness and love for them. We aren't much different than our own children. How many times have you chastised your own child and in only a short time they are hugging your neck and telling you that they love you? Don't we do that to the Lord too? We should. If we don't. it is time for some self examination. What is in us that would cause us to not run to our Father in repentance and love?

I want to be a child that is more concerned about disappointing my Father than fearing the punishment that may come. I want to serve him because I LOVE HIM. I want to ALWAYS endure the chastising of the Lord. For I am his Daughter and want him to deal with me as his Daughter.