Working out in God's gymnasium

Hebrews 12:5-11  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:  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.  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? 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. 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.

Sanctifying grace

      Jesus prayed for us to be sanctified – He said, “Sanctify them through Thy truth, Thy word is truth”. God uses His word to sanctify us and uses various methods to accomplish the correcting of His children. We must recognize that His chastening doses not work in us automatically. Just because we are chastened does not mean that it will work the purpose in us – we cannot remain passive about the chastening. Just as there is a wrong way of viewing chastisement, so there is a wrong way or ways to react to chastening.

Wrong ways of reaction to chastening

      The fist is seen in verse 5 – despising. This also carries the idea of not regarding of taking serious the circumstances that are used in chastening. Pay no attention to it, regard it loosely or shake it off as something light – putting on a bold front to say it has no effect upon me. Trying to throw it off and not allow it to have any affect upon us. We steel ourselves and become hard to trials and problems rather than allowing them to work in us the word of God. Society teaches us to brace up and don’t permit us to be bothered by these circumstances.

      The second reaction the writer mentioned is in the 5th verse as well, “nor faint”. The writer of Proverbs also warns of fainting in times of trouble (Prov 24:10). Giving up and giving in, saying, “I’ve had it; I can’t take it anymore.” We become discouraged and begin questioning why it happened and about it being unfair. This leads to grumbling and complaining and a sense of a grudge – against God. We eventually throw up our hands and throw in the towel.

      The third wrong reaction is mentioned in verse 15 – lest any root of bitterness spring up. Some people react to the trials and troubles in life with bitterness. Before the misfortunes of life befall some they are friendly and nice but afterward they are bitter, self-centered and difficult. They seem to turn on themselves – the bitterness becomes part of their soul, you cannot help them. They think the whole world is against them and the bitterness can be seen in their faces, actions and attitudes. A complete change takes place in them – as complete a change as that which took place at conversion.

What are we to do?

      We must learn to behave as children and not illegitimates. He says, “Have ye forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. . .”We are to stop behaving as though it was not our Father Who was chastening us – stop our whining and crying and be corrected by it. Since we are children of God we are to consider the word of exhortation and not consider the trial or trouble by itself. We have the word of God and many resources to use to help us apply what is happening to us. As Christians we are to put everything into the perspective of the Bible – not react as the world. The world does not have anything but the world to fall back on, but we have the very wisdom of God to fall back on.

      Secondly, we are to consider how that word speaks to us. The word speaks could be rendered reasons. The word “reasons” or “argues” with us when we read it properly. We must mentally and spiritually interact with the Scripture as we read it.

      Thirdly, we must see what the argument is. It is imperative that we react to the argument, reasoning in the way which God is dealing with us. He says it will yield the peaceable fruit to those who are exercised thereby. The only ones who derive benefit are those who are exercised by the chastening.

The phrase exercised thereby carries the idea of being put into a gymnasium. The root of the word for gymnasium means to be stripped naked and examined by the instructor. Just as the instructor would examine an athlete for areas that needed strengthening or toning, so God examines us to see where we are lacking spiritually and then prescribed the spiritual exercise we need to accomplish the desired result. God will point out to us what we need and we have to be honest and see for ourselves what is wrong (Psa 119:71).

      Secondly, he says we are to loosen up – lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees. Make straight paths for your feet. The chastening is because we have gotten off the straight and narrow way, we need to re-establish our steps in that way again.

      Thirdly, we are to follow peace and holiness. The word means to hunt, pursue them. Not a casual seeking but a determined and purposed pursuing of the things of God and peace.