For a couple years in high school I marched in the band. Band directors always impress me. Anyone who forms coherent lines out of flocks of teenagers possesses a bit of genius and a lot of determination. Bless them all for their efforts.
But as a teenager, I thought the band director oppressive. He forced me to carry my instrument a certain way, to go to an exact spot of the football field in line with everyone else, and even badgered me into walking heel-to-toe. Then do it all over and over. Dude, lighten up.
Enmeshed in my gaggle of pimply musicians, I failed to see the value of the discipline our band director enforced. But after weeks of practice under the late summer sun, a show emerged. Still only a small half-time performance, but a group of kids now moved in sync, blasting memorized music and thoroughly enjoying our new abilities—pulled out of us due to our director’s vision and discipline.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the value of discipline. God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. I tend to think of discipline as punishment, but that’s not the point here. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Discipline feels hard to bear, even unendurable at times. From my vantage point I cannot see the full picture of what lies beyond. But like my band director on his stand, the Lord knows the direction he wants me to move. I need to believe in the process, gain confidence as my director shifts me, and look forward the new show to come.
Hebrews 12 in reading the Bible in 2023
Photo by Katrina Berban
