Day 4: A Father who delights
[Jesus said,] Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent (Revelation 3:19).
Lord God Almighty, Alpha and Omega, the Amen, the Faithful and True, the Ruler of God's creation (Revelation 1: 8, 3:14), You love us, and You have freed us from our sins by Your blood (Revelation 1:5).
You have made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve Your God and Father (Revelation 1:6) and You desire to keep us from stumbling and to present us before Your glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jude 1:24). To this end, You lead us, You guide us, You protect us. And You rebuke and discipline us.
Lord, You know us—You know our history, You know our world. You know that our associations of human discipline are often negative and scarring. So time and again in Scripture You give us the assurance that Your discipline comes from perfect love (Deuteronomy 8:5, Job 5:17, Proverbs 3:11-12, Hebrews 12:5-11).
And in Your message to each of the seven churches about its challenges, its weaknesses, failings, and strengths (Revelation 2-3), You call the church of every age into serious self-examination, repentance, and commitment. You show that Your rebuke and discipline are compelled by Your love—as You explain in detail the enormous eternal outcomes connected to the responsibilities You have assigned to Your church.
In our individual lives, Lord, as well as in the life of Your church, You desire to renew our minds and to transform us into Your image (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18). We have been saved by Your grace and Your grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). But because in Christ we are made a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), we cannot remain in our trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1), and instead are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).
Deliver us, from evil—from entangling sins (Hebrews 12:1), from hidden faults and secret sins (Psalm 19:12, Psalm 90:8), from lurking sins (Genesis 4:7), and from willful, dominant sins (Psalm 19:13). Remind us of Your word, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in (Proverbs 3:11-12). (The Complete Jewish Bible translation is, like a father who delights in his son.)
May we not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you (Psalm 32:9). Help us to welcome Your guidance, Your rebuke, and Your discipline so You may present us to Yourself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:27).
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