I started unpacking Hebrews 12:8-18 on August 22, and if my count is correct there have been seven posts to date. So far we’ve looked at verses 8-15. The general theme of the passage is the discipline of the Father, which can either refer to PUNISHMENT (correction with a purpose) or PREPARATION. Personally, I believe the Father’s discipline of us is often a combination of both. He’s correcting the unholy habits and addressing the sinful disobedience which has worked its way into our lives (As someone said, “God cares more about our character, than our comfort.”). At the same time, the Father is preparing us to pursue his plan for our life and to fulfill the potential of the gifts he’s placed within us.
When we’re going through a time of discipline, which is often painful on multiple levels, we can experience discouragement and disappointment, to the point we entertain thoughts of giving up. Verses 12-15 offer very practical steps to take so we respond correctly to the discipline of the Lord and continue to move towards the good plans he has for us.
In verses 16 and 17, the writer of Hebrews addresses another possible area of temptation when we are tested by discipline. One of the most powerful drives we possess as humans is in the area of sexual desire. God created us as sexual beings with the capacity to draw great pleasure from expressing our sexual desires. In my current series at King Mountain Church (kingmountain.org), GOD’S HATE LIST, I am teaching on four different things the Bible says God hates. This next Sunday, September 18, my talk will be on GOD HATES SEXUAL PERVERSION. So, guess what I’ll be studying this next week? BTW, we post audio files of the Sunday teaching on our website if you want to check out what I have to say on the subject.
Now that we’re back from that commercial break, let’s continue to look at verses 16-17: “Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau. He traded his birthright as the oldest son for a single meal. 17 And afterward, when he wanted his father's blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he wept bitter tears.” (New Living Translation)
Sometimes we choose to deal with pain by seeking to ESCAPE. That’s the option addressed in verses 12-15. When we’re going through hard stuff, even if we know it’s something God is allowing to bring correction and/or direction to our lives, we still have to fight the temptation to escape. Another way to deal with pain is to ELIMINATE (or at least mask) it with pleasure. Since there’s nothing more pleasurable than satisfying our sexual desires, our fleshly identity [sinful selves] will suggest this is a good way to go. Verse 16 points to the example of Esau. You can read his story in Genesis 25:29-34. The short version is Esau traded his whole inheritance, which included a double-portion as the eldest son, for a bowl of his brother’s stew. It must have been great stew, because Esau made a stupid decision. It only takes like five minutes to make a sandwich, but Esau didn’t want to wait. He allowed his desire to make his decision. He caved in to impatience, and gave up something he would never be able to get back again.
All of us have the capacity to be “immoral and godless like Esau.” The failure demonstrated by Esau in this story was one of making a decision based on his desire, rather than considering the consequences of his actions. Each of us has the potential to make a single decision, which will forever alter the direction of our lives. It may be a decision like Esau’s, where we allow our disillusionment with the Father’s discipline to drive us to satisfy our desires in a way which is sinful. It may be a decision which compromises our character and integrity. We hear about these kinds of character implosions nearly every day in the media. As ominous as it sounds, it only takes a moment to forever change a lifetime.
When we’re experiencing the Father’s discipline this is a time for deliberate decisions. We need to carefully calculate every choice to make certain we are living and acting in a way which is pleasing to the Lord. Happiness or pleasure (satisfying our desires) can never be our number one goal, but especially when we’re going through a painful time of life. This is a good time to close with Galatians 6:9 (New Living Translation): “So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.”
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