The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 12:5-11, “…and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;

6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.’

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Fully the first half of Hebrews 12 concerns discipline. Nine times in the seven verses above, Paul emphasizes

the need and value of discipline. The word discipline in Greek is paideia, meaning instruction. When instruction is repeated again and again, it becomes easier to retain. This week we learned that the Arkansas Razorbacks will face the Butler Bulldogs in the first round of the NCAA basketball Tournament this coming week. Butler admits they know little about the style of the Razorbacks; but believe me, both teams will be disciplined in order to do their very best.

Everything requires discipline. Sometimes (maybe too often) we think of discipline as punishment. “Go to the blackboard and write, I will not talk aloud without permission 100 times,” the teacher says. Yes, it is punishment; but it is also training –training the mind to remember not to talk aloud without permission.

My neighbors have dogs; but I don’t discipline their dogs because they are not mine. God disciplines only those who are His. If you are one of His children, He will discipline (teach, instruct) you. If you don’t learn what He is

teaching, He will say it again until you get it. It’s important that we know with certainty that we belong to Him. Sometimes people say they are Christians, but they’ve never had a salvation experience with Jesus. When I was saved, the first think I wanted was to be baptized. Why? Because baptism is how we tell everyone that we have been saved. It does not save us, but it is an “act of righteousness,” commanded by the LORD Jesus.

When we are assured that we have been saved– born again, born from above—God takes us to school to learn of Him “that we may share His holiness” (v. 10). Yes, His lessons are often difficult, but when they are over, and we’ve learned them, they are exceedingly profitable. Don’t worry! Just stick with it. As you grow older, you’ll be glad that you did.

We love you exceedingly, and pray for you every, single day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”