Scripture to Read: Hebrews 12:3-8
God begins Hebrews 12:3 telling us to
deeply consider everything our Lord Jesus Christ went
through on our behalf: that Christ was punched in the
face by the guards whom He created. Christ was hit in
the face so many times that He was unrecognizable as a
man. His face would have swelled from the beating, making
Him unrecognizable; that Christ was also scourged
(beaten with a whip called the cat of nine tails. This whip
had little pieces of metal interwoven into it so that when
the whip struck His back, the metal would’ve dug in and
ripped the flesh right off Christ’s back when the whip was
pulled away); that Christ was nailed to the cross and hung
there for approximately six hours, enduring the cross for
us and enduring the punishment of our sin; that Christ
was also ridiculed by the very people He created. God the
Father wants us to compare our fight against temptation
and sin to what Christ went through for us so that we do
not “grow weary and lose heart” in our fight against our
fleshly nature. Then God reminds us that we have not yet
resisted to the point of shedding any blood in our battle
against sin. In verses 5-6, God has the writer quote Proverbs
3:11-12. Hebrews 12:5-7 is an excellent reminder
that our Lord loving disciplines us because we are His
children. But Hebrews 12:8 is a severe warning to anyone
living in sin who has not received God’s discipline, for
they are illegitimate, not belonging to the Lord.
Challenge & Application
1. What did God teach you about your battle against sin
and temptation and about His loving discipline?
2. Who will you share these truths with today?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!