Gistvibez devotion of Today-The Blessings Of God’s Rod

Key Verse:“Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby” (Hebrews 12:11).
We can share the insight of one time English
writer and deacon, Abraham Wright that, “We may
feel God’s hand as a Father upon us when He
strikes us as well as when He strokes us.” No
earthly father can love his children as God loves
His own
. God so loves His children that He
spares no gainful measure that will keep them on
the right path in life. One of those measures is
the application of His rod of correction. Today’s
text succinctly addresses the matter and makes it
clear that blessings abound in God’s rod of
correction. Chastisement is an inevitable reality in
the life of every true child of God. This is because
we all have the tendency to stray. Every caring
and prudent parent knows the importance of child
discipline. A child left to himself, without any
restraining hand, will not fare better than a
bastard. God knows us more than we know
ourselves. In His infinite wisdom, He may allow
some sort of affliction or ugly experience to come
our way to drive us right back into the circle of
His perfect will. Usually, such experiences are not
pleasant, but it can be comforting to discern that
God intends them for our good. We can make the
most of them because they always yield the
peaceable fruit of righteousness. Verse 5 shows
us two extremes which we must avoid when we
are under divine chastisement. One is to despise
the chastening by making light of the experience
and being insensitive to it as not to make the
chastening effectual. The other extreme is to get
so miserably discouraged as to defeat the
essence of the discipline. The first thing is to
discern that the suffering or trial confronting us is
God’s rod. If it is, it should be borne with faith
and patience. It does not matter how or through
what agency God’s discipline comes to us –
peculiar circumstances, challenging experiences,
sanctions from church leadership, etc. – it all
comes from God’s heart of love and it is for our
good.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Only cherished plants
need pruning; weeds grow freely but are meant to
be cut and burnt