Treated as Children by God

Text: Hebrews 12:1-14 1

Reflection and Question: What a great passage for meditation on Ash Wednesday, when Christians remember Jesus’ atonement for our sins and begin the penitential season of Lent leading to Holy Week and Easter! It reminds us that Jesus endured the cross and sits at the right hand of God to plead for us. The image of the race is a good one for the forty days of Lent when we are invited to “endure trials for the sake of discipline.” And the goal is “peace with everyone,” as well as “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” How does God discipline you as a parent disciplines a child?

Prayer: Almighty God, we confess our sin with Christians through the ages on this day. We shall not lose heart, but rather shall accept Your adoption as Your children. Train us so that we may receive the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Amen.

This meditation is based on the Daily Lectionary Year 2 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).