CHASTENING WILL BRING MUCH FRUIT

_“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; …afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit…”(Hebrews 12:11)_ 

An apple farmer was pruning his orchard and piled up all the pruned branches in one corner of the Orchard. One morning he noted a bird building a nest in that heap of pruned branches. Later that day, he tore the nest apart.  The bird flew around, chirping wildly, as if to say, "You cruel fellow!"   The next day the farmer saw the bird again trying to build a nest in the same place. Again he destroyed the nest. All labor the bird had spent in building the nest was lost. The third day the bird started building the nest in a rose bush at a distance. Smiling, the farmer let the bird build.  The nest was finished, and eggs were laid, but before the birds could leave the nest, all the branches in that pile where the bird had twice tried to build had been burned.  The farmer who planned to burn that pile knew that if the bird were allowed to build there, the nest and its little young ones would be destroyed. He chased the bird only to save its efforts and not to make it a waste! What was pain to the bird in the beginning turned out to be a blessing later! So also, our Lord often chastens us because He knows that if we are allowed to go our way, we may be destroyed or harmed. He knows that his pruning and chastening will yield only ‘peaceable fruit’ and not otherwise. And He chooses to chasten not all and sundry, but only those whom He has chosen to be His sons and daughters.

So, dear friends, if the Lord chastens you, if the rod in His hand pains you, do not be dismayed. He is your Father and His chastening is the result of His love towards you. The Bible says, “the Lord disciplines those He loves.” (Vs.6) We, as parents often rebuke our sons and daughters. Our intention is not to grieve them but to groom them. How much more the Lord will groom us with His chastening! Let us be thankful for His love this morning!

*PRAYER*:  Dear Lord, I thank you for chastening me. Whatever you do to me is only to groom me and not to harm me. Let there not be any grief in me. when you use your rod for my own good.  Let me continuously thank you for your love.. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.