Discipline.  It can be a touchy subject.  Depending on the time in which you grew up, depends on the type of discipline you received.  In this meaning of the word, “using punishment to correct disobedience,” parents discipline their children.  I remember the old saying, “apply the board of education to the seat of knowledge”.  Today, a lot of parents do not believe in spanking their children.  Whatever your mode of discipline for your children, I believe a loving parent should discipline their children.  Through discipline, children learn there are rules to follow and consequences for their actions.  This is how a loving parent teaches their children.  And through this discipline, the children learn respect.

But discipline also has another meaning.  The other meaning is “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior.  I believe within this definition; it means to persevere – stay focused and never give up.  An athlete, a runner, knows how to focus and persevere.  They are very “disciplined” in their training so they can run the race through endurance.

In our Scripture today, God disciplines His children.  God tells us to not take His discipline lightly and he disciplines the ones He loves.  We all go through hardships in life.  It is not a bed of roses.  We go through financial hardships, relationship hardship, health hardship, etc.  These hardships should teach us to lean on God.  We learn endurance through the unpleasant circumstances.  The perseverance “produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (v. 11)  In Verse 12, God tells us to “strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.”  In other words, condition ourselves like a runner preparing for their race.

Go.  Be disciplined.  Endure.