Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 12-13.

The writer tells us that hardship and suffering come into our lives as discipline from God.  The way I read this passage the writer is using discipline with both of its two possible understandings.  Under the first understanding, discipline means negative consequences in order to change bad behavior to good behavior.  In the second understanding, discipline means working hard in order to achieve greater things.  So, God disciplines us so as to help us learn to not do things which bring us bad results.  But He also disciplines us to make us stronger and better at doing good things, just as an athlete applies discipline in their training routine in order to get better at their sport.  As we face hardship and suffering let us embrace them as the means by which God both teaches us to avoid sin, which brings us harm, and strengthens us so that we may do good works with ever greater effect.  Such discipline is evidence that we are indeed God’s children.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.