The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

–Parallel verses:
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭7‬-‭11‬
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 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.

At times in life our “normal” gets shaken up. Either through events, new rules, or new people we can find ourselves having to consider things we never thought we would have to. It can be a career change, a divorce or loss of a loved one, a new boss, an urgent medical challenge, empty nester issues, etc. When these things happen, we typically have a grieving process and seek to have things return back to how they were before.

I have seen this many times in my life, from my mother’s passing when I was 14, to leaving home at 18, to other times with job changes and family relationship challenges. Through it all, God has allowed me to remain close to him. And lately, I have learned that these challenges and changes in life, in large part …are by design.

In our parallel verses, we find that it is God’s nature to discipline us. He wants to build up in us a strong faith that can stand in the challenges and trials of life, with his strength. And the benefit of receiving correction well is that it results in a harvest of righteousness and peace.

Jesus used the example of a vine and branches to show the benefit of discipline: “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭2‬). Pruning is painful at the time, but it results in a more fruitful harvest in the long run.

There are a few things here that I find interesting about the “circumcised believers”. 1) The fact that the author calls them this implies they might have distinguished themselves as “a cut above” other believers because of their circumcision. 2) The human order of “goodness” was set to change in the church. No longer did circumcision count for much. God saw things differently. 3) People needed to look beyond appearances and customs and into the heart potential of each other. This is how God looks at us.

As I experience changes in my expectation of life, I must realize that God is pruning me. This is a good thing, though it hurts. The “circumcised believers” were, just like Peter, having the rules they lived by upended. Now it was their turn to hear Peter and determine if they would follow God’s correction to a great harvest!

Thank you, Lord, for pruning me and helping me become more effective in ministry through the changes and corrections of this life. I will trust and obey. It is the only way to be happy in Jesus, after all.