Hebrews 12:5
King James Version
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children,
My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
What does it mean to be chastened?
How about to be rebuked?
Chasten means to be punished, or disciplined.
Rebuke means to be criticized.
Why must we welcome, and accept the chastening, and rebuking, of the Lord?
Apostle Paul explains it here:
Hebrews 12:6-17 (KJV)
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons;
for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards,
and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh
which corrected us,
and we gave them reverence:
shall we not much rather be in subjection
unto the Father of spirits,
and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure;
but he for our profit,
that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 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.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down,
and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet,
lest that which is lame be turned out of the way;
but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men,
and holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God;
lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you,
and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator,
or profane person,
as Esau,
who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For ye know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing,
he was rejected:
for he found no place of repentance,
though he sought it carefully with tears.
Welcome and accept God's chastening and rebuke.
He does it only to correct us, for He loves us.
Would we rather He ignore us?
And we continue to fall by the wayside?
How can we deny the Creator, our heavenly Father, that right, and privilege?
We are His sons, not bastards.
We must all be chastised, for all of us have sinned.
Let us be subject to the "Father of spirits" and "live".
Only by becoming born again can we be led by the Holy Spirit of God to the path to obedience, which Jesus has already paved for us.
Only then can we welcome, accept, and understand -- with faith, and grace -- the necessary chastening, and rebuking, from the Lord.
Hebrews 12:28-29 (KJV)
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved,
let us have grace,
whereby we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
(Image source: Sabine van Straaten)
Updated 25 January 2022