Hebrews 5.8
Although he was a son,
he learned obedience
through what he suffered.
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I admit that not all Scriptural truths are ones that I get excited about, and this is one of them. Knowing that Christ learned obedience through suffering, and knowing that I am to pattern my life after Christ, I know that I must also learn to walk in obedience through suffering, and my flesh just does not like that.
But why did Jesus have to “learn” obedience? Although it is true that He already had obedience as God’s Son, that obedience was never put under the test of living in a fallen world with pains, sufferings, and temptations. It is, in a sense, that His suffering is what galvanized and proved His obedience through the testing of the fire of a life on this earth. And so if Christ needed to have His obedience tested and proved, how much more do I? And if He wasn’t above suffering in this life, what makes me think I should be able to avoid it? If anything, I deserve (and need!) to go through a lot more than He did!
Paul says in Romans 8.17 that when I suffer with Christ, I know that I will also be glorified with Him. He also says in Philippians 3.10 that my suffering with Him helps me to become more like Him. And this is exactly what I want in my life: I want to become more like Christ!
When a young athlete wants to become like his favorite athlete, it isn’t enough to just “want” that goal. He would have to partake in the same process: the training, sacrifice, the pain, and the discipline. So it is with Christ. It is not enough for me to just “want” to be like Him; I must also partake in what He endured, and that includes suffering.
But there’s one thing I do love about this truth: it shows me the distance Christ was willing to go to save me. To become an acceptable offering, He endured what humans endure and live the way that I have failed to live. This not only proved His love for His Father, but also His love for me. His obedience (and love) was tested. When this reality hits me, it changes how I see my own suffering.
I now love my suffering
because it makes me
closer to Jesus,
because He suffered for me.
-My Dad During His Cancer Battle, 2021
The Gospel reminds me that all of my trials and sufferings are intended by God to produce something important in me; to train me, to teach me, to humble me, and to draw me closer to Him. I can rest in the truth that God is sovereign over all my suffering, and that it is all for His great purpose working in my life.
Read Again Out Loud and Make it into a Prayer:
Hebrews 5.8
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Though You Slay Me
Shane and Shane
Personalize and Read or Pray Aloud:
I come, God, I come, I return to the Lord
The One who’s broken,
the One who’s torn me apart
You strike down to bind me up,
You say You do it all in love
That I might know You in Your suffering
Though You slay me,
yet I will praise You
Though You take from me,
I will bless Your Name
Though You ruin me,
still I will worship
Sing a song to the One
who’s all I need
My heart and flesh may fail,
the earth below give way
But with my eyes,
with my eyes I’ll see the Lord
Lifted high on that day,
behold, the Lamb that was slain
And I’ll know every tear was worth it all
Though tonight I’m crying out,
“Let this cup pass from me now”
You’re still more than I need,
You’re enough for me
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Pray Aloud:
Christ beside me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, King of my heart;
Christ within me, Christ below me,
Christ above me, Never to part.
Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left,
Christ all around, Shield in the strife;
Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising, Light of my life.
Christ beside me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, King of my heart;
Christ within me, Christ below me,
Christ above me, Never to part.
-Adapted from St. Patrick’s Breastplate.
Set to the Gaelic tune “Bunessan” in 1969
Father, be glorified in __________ ,
let Your Kingdom
and will be done,
in and through __________
as it is in Heaven.
Give _________ daily bread,
and thank You for Your forgiveness.
Help me to forgive others,
as I know that You have forgiven me.
Keep __________ eyes fixed on You
and Your Word so that _______
may not sin against You.
Thank You for Your sovereign love.
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