PODCAST
The Lord Hears
May 6th, 2015
Jeremiah 31:16-25
One Sunday when Maureen’s husband was seven, his mother was in the church nursery and his father was on the platform with other men. So Fred and his five-year-old brother sat on the front pew alone, but (being boys) they began to play around during the service. When they got home, they were disciplined. Fred says he never did that again, not just because he didn’t want to be disciplined again, but because he didn’t want to grieve his parents.
Discipline isn’t just random punishment. Hebrews 12:10-11 tells us that God disciplines us so “we may share in his holiness,” producing “a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” If discipline leads to repentance and a plea to be restored to God’s grace, God responds in forgiveness, like any loving parent.
When Israel returned to the Lord in humility, ashamed of their sin, He assured them of His love and brought them back into relationship with Him. When we are under God’s discipline, and we respond in repentance and ask forgiveness, He will hear us.
Author: Maureen McClain
Tags: Discipline, Forgiveness
