Heb 12:5-6  My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him: For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.

It is interesting that these scriptures come in the context of the race of faith. Discipline and obedience are part and parcel of what it means to be sons and how God treats us. How we react to such scourging seems to be the difference between those who are sons and those who are illegitimate. Gods sons and daughters see all things in the light of Calvary. We know we have not suffered like the Lord in the garden, we have not sweated great drops of blood under extreme pressure. Neither have we had to suffer for the sins of a guilty world. We have not been rejected like Jesus nor have we suffered as He did physically. In all these things Jesus was obedient to His Father’s voice.

The peaceable fruit of righteousness is produced in those who have been disciplined and chastened. When a piece of land is purchased, first the trees and the shrubs must be cut down. Then the back-breaking work of removing the stumps takes place. Stones are removed one by one and the clods of the ground are broken down into soil. Then the ground is ready to be tilled. We are the purchased ground. If we do not yield to the process then we produce no fruit and God only deals with potential fruitfulness. As we know, vines that do not produce fruit are cut down and burned in the fire. It is a similar concept here in chapter 12.  There are two kinds of sons, one is good, the other is illegitimate. One honors is father no matter what, the other rebels against His discipline and disqualifies himself.

The son of God pursues peace, the other pursues war. The son of God lives in holiness, the other lives defiled by sin. The son lives in the grace of God, in the full knowledge that his favor is unmerited, the other believes himself to have position and has an entitled attitude. The son lives without bitterness, the other allows bitterness to take root in his unkempt field. The son stands upon an unshakable foundation that is Christ Himself, the other stands upon a foundation of his own making so that when the shaking comes everything that he has falls. The son knows and understands that His God is a consuming fire and that everything of this world shall be burned up, therefore he lives for the next world. They await their place in the city to come, the city of the living God. He knows that he is registered in heaven to God and that his company shall be that of innumerable angels and the general assembly of the Church. This is his reward.