Fatherly Discipline

We have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? (Heb. 12:9 ESV)

This verse stuck out to me the other day, mainly because it just makes sense. It causes me to think not only of myself, but also of the world.

It causes me to think of myself because I have found myself under what I would call God's discipline at times. Thanks be to God for those times, especially when I recognize what is happening. I realize I have been sinning in some way or have some particularly un-Christ-like attitude that needs to be done away with, and I begin to pray about it. I see it in myself and, by God's power, resist the urge to indulge in it. I think of God's discipline as one of the ways in which he sanctifies us. "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Rom. 8:28, 29). "All things" includes the things we would see as bad. Those things are meant to conform us more and more to the image of Christ. In other words, they are meant to sanctify us.

On the other hand, the verse makes me think of the world because the world, despite its general unbelief, so often blames God when bad things happen. What strikes me about this verse is the contrast between our reactions to our earthly fathers and our Heavenly Father; when the earthly father disciplines his son, his son respects him more. When an earthly judge punishes a murderer for his crime, we call him a just judge. When God disciplines people or brings punishment that they deserve on them, we spit on his face and call him evil. What sense does that make?

"God's kindness is meant to lead [us] to repentance" (Rom. 2:4), yet we think that, since he hasn't disciplined us, it's all good. There's no need to repent because he's so kind. But when he does discipline us, we yell at him and refuse to acknowledge that we deserve it. There's no need to repent because he's so cruel. How fallen are we?