Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed (Hebrews 12:12-13 NIV).

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While at Grandma Townley’s 100^th birthday party two weeks ago, I was tossing a football around with a cousin, an uncle, and my two Townley brothers-in-law. The younger of the BILs at one point started stretching and rubbing his shoulder. “Are you injured?” I called out before I threw the ball to him, “Are you going to stop playing?” His reply was, “Yes, but I am still gonna play!” So, either he was having such a fun time or wanted to save face in front of his wife’s family, or maybe both, but he didn’t make what I would consider the safe or logical choice to give his aching shoulder a break. I have known many people in my life who’ve chosen to ignore their body’s pain signals to keep on playing the sports they loved and then paid dearly for that choice.  

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Our Scripture verse today in Hebrews talks about making choices that either lead us toward healing or toward permanent pain and struggle.

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While Chapter 11 of Hebrews was all about the heroes of our faith, now in chapter 12, the writer of Hebrews is outlining how we are to live as the faithful coming after them. Verse 11 tells us that, though discipline from God can be painful, we should embrace it because of what it produces in us. The goal is holiness, not our comfort. So, verse 12’s “therefore” points back to the discipline and encourages us to strengthen what is currently weak in us.

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Why do we need this strengthening? This verse teaches that we need to, like an athlete,  train ourselves to be strong as we face God’s discipline. Discipline from the Lord can come in many forms: it can be natural consequences, seasons of waiting or loss, or even conviction from the Holy Spirit. If we fall apart during these times of discipline, we might go from bad to worse, as the next verse teaches. We are my brother-in-law, continuing to play with his bum shoulder, instead of submitting to God’s discipline.

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Verse 12 says that instead we are to “make level,” or some translations say “make straight,” the paths for our feet. The verse being quoted here is Proverbs 4:26, which says, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.”  I think this fleshes out the idea that we are to choose wisely the paths we go down, not taking the paths with obstacles, not wandering into dangerous places. The writer of Hebrews outlines the consequences of bad paths too: the lame will become disabled. Your temporary injury may lead to a permanent condition. Pastor Jim Cymbala from the Brooklyn Tabernacle, speaking of this verse, said you might be “running with a limp because of stuff that is in your life,” and we should “take stock of where you are lame, where you are weak.”

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We can easily turn a lapse in judgment into a habitual sin if we aren’t vigilant. Sometimes, our pride keeps us from seeing where we are weak. Sometimes we may even be blind to areas of weakness if we aren’t surrounding ourselves with believers that can hold us accountable. Knowing the Bible well and continuing to study it can help us stay on the right paths. We have a part to play in our journey to become more like Jesus, and there are choices we can make each day to lean into the Lord’s discipline by strengthening weak areas. This could look like trusting Him, knowing His promises, having patience in the waiting, or remembering our worth comes from being God’s child, not what we do.

How are you seeking the Lord’s wisdom as you endeavor to strengthen the areas that are weak? Ask the Lord today to show you where your pride or pleasure-seeking might be calling the shots instead of the Hold Spirit’s leading.

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I want to end the devotional today with a short, borrowed prayer from Pastor Cymbala about this journey toward holiness: “It is a high calling that we have, an upward calling to heaven, and on the way, everyday, more and more like Jesus Christ. So be it Lord, Amen.”