Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 12-13.
When the writer tells us that when we experience hardship we should view it as discipline from God, he is not telling us to look at it as punishment for doing wrong. Rather, we should view it as an action which strengthens our ability to do God’s will. For example, a coach will have his players run laps in order to build up their discipline with no connection to anything they did wrong. In the same way, God sometimes allows us to go through hardship to develop the discipline to live a godly life. The writer tells us to strengthen our feeble arms and our weak knees so that the lame may be healed. I am not sure what he is trying to say there, but he goes on to tell us to strive to live in peace with everyone and to be holy. Then the writer tells us what it means to be holy: love one another, show hospitality to strangers, remember those in prison and those being mistreated, and be content with what you have. The writer then gives us two quotes from the Old Testament which should give us all confidence and courage:
The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
If we hold these two things close we will not fear, no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.
I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.