God’s Discipline

Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds.

Hosea 6:1

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN God’s people sin by committing wrongs and engaging in ungodly practices? The Bible clearly shows us that God does something: he disciplines us. He will not let us continue in our sin indefinitely.

Hosea wrote to a sinful, rebellious people. Their lives were full of wrongdoing, evil, cheating, lying, stealing, and murder. God could not let that continue, so he stepped in and began a disciplinary process that involved famines, attacks from various enemies, and powerful judgments that left the people in deeper and deeper trouble. In time, their sin became so blatant and so rampant that God judged them by allowing the nation to be conquered and its people carried off into slavery.

God has a purpose, though, in such actions. When we sin, he disciplines. But when we repent and return to him, he heals us and bandages our wounds. He comforts us.

God has promised that he will never make us suffer endlessly or discipline us without the hope of redemption and forgiveness. With God there are more than second chances; he gives many chances to those who need them.