Obedience Training

I remember watching old clips of the Ed Sullivan show and one of the acts that fascinated me was the man with the spinning plates. Eight to ten poles stood erect before him and on each he would place a single plate. With a gentle wave of his hand, he would start one spinning on top of the pole. He would then place a second plate on another pole and start that one spinning. He’d sweep his hand again over the first plate to continue its rotation and move on to a third. This process would continue until he had every plate successfully spinning. In a graceful dance that, at times, bordered on panic, he’d bounce from one wobbling plate to the next in a desperate attempt to keep all plates twirling in perpetual motion. I watched anxiously as one plate slowed, wobbling precariously on its perch, only to be quickly attended to and sent on its circular way. This sort of gives you a rough idea of what it’s like teaching a puppy obedience class.

The puppies clumsily bound in the door on that first day with their human companions dutifully in tow. Each fuzzy body wags in excitement as the moms and dads desperately try to get their budding prodigies attention. As class begins, I bounce from one frustrated owner to the next, showing them how to capture a puppies fleeting attention span with various bits of hot dog, cheese or a squeaky toy. It works, for a while. About four pups down the line and the first loses it again. After a few minutes, the newness dies down, the human counterparts regain some semblance of control, all plates are spinning and we start the class.

Sit is generally the first behavior taught and to most pups, it’s the “go-to” behavior. They pick it up quickly, usually offering it up at the sound of a opening treat bag without the word “sit” being uttered. Then there are others who bounce around like they’re spring loaded; their tiny butts occasionally grazing the ground but too excited to place it there on a permanent basis. As the weeks progress, the puppies mature and are active participants. They now sit and lie down; wait and stay but only if the reward is worth it. A warm hot dog or bit a cheese and the puppy is like putty in your hand but a stale cheerio or bit of biscuit and you’ve lost them. The world around them is much too interesting and the obedience lesson is often derailed.

I couldn’t help but think about how closely that models my own obedience to God the Father. When I first began my life as a new Christian, I was eager to please. I read my Bible with a voracious appetite. I thought about my actions and whether they were pleasing to God. I sat, I rolled over, I lied down. But as I continued on my Christian walk , I begun to get distracted. Beth Moore, in one of her Bible studies writes, “if the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” How true. In my busy-ness, I’m distracted by things that don’t matter and disobedience creeps in. The Bible gets put aside for an extra workout, I say words and do things without thinking of the consequences. And in turn, the blessings of God drift further away. Joy and peace are replaced with frustration and regret. In Exodus, the Israelites were promised a new land “flowing with milk and honey”. It was there, right in front of them only a few miles away so why did it take another 40 years for them to arrive in Canaan? Disobedience. Questioning God and His plan. Losing trust in the One who had freed them from slavery in Egypt, disregarding the caring Father who provided manna and water when they cried out for sustenance, turning away from the Shield and Rock who rescued them from the hand of their enemies. Their disobedience created distance between themselves and God’s blessings. In God’s wonderful grace, however, the blessing was never taken away. Their arrival in Canaan was simply postponed while they worked through their disobedience. In the same way, a puppy will see the hot dog in your hand, it will hear the instruction to “sit”, it will want that tasty treat but it will jump up and spin around and bark. Chances are, you begin to get frustrated and say the command again and again. You plead, “all you have to do is SIT and you will get this treat, please....just sit!” Sound familiar? The blessing is still there, it’s just waiting for us to simply settle down and sit. Lucky for us, God is patient.

God is pleased when our walk with Him is steady and sure. How proud are we when our dogs are on their best behavior, listening to our every command? We shower them with love and praise for their obedience but it is often short lived. Obedience takes practice. I often remind people as they and their pups say goodbye at the end of their final class, that obtaining solid obedience takes a lifetime of work. They have to continue honing their dogs obedience skills in more challenging environments. The same goes for us. Obedience is easy when we are walking into church on Sunday morning, but we have to practice in more challenging situations. We have to continually know what obedience looks like by studying Scripture and practice it throughout our lives. For instance, trusting God when things appear to be spiraling out of control and remembering His promise, “to never leave (us) or forsake (us).”

What is the ultimate blessing that awaits us when we obediently live our life for Christ? An eternity spent with the One who modeled the ultimate act of obedience. Following His Father’s will that lead him to death on the cross. Jesus laments in Matthew 26:38, ”My soul is very sorrowful, even to death...” His obedience was going to mean intense physical pain, false charges, and the betrayal of even his closest companions. Matthew 26: 39 continues, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Even if the will of his Father meant death on a cross. But Jesus knew that death wasn’t the reward for his obedience but eternal life and not only His, but ours as well. He was willing to accept the suffering and the humiliation for our salvation. Jesus’ exemplified unwavering obedience in life, and in His death was the final sacrifice which wiped away our sins and allowed us access to our Heavenly Father. What a blessing that flowed from that single act of selfless obedience!

Obedience is not easy. From the moment Eve’s teeth sunk into the apple, we humans have been grappling with our choices. In His tender mercy, God does not demand perfection. He lets us tug on the leash, break our stays a few seconds early, and occasionally lie down when we were asked to sit. However, if we continue to look to the cross and remember Jesus’ example of perfect obedience, it can help us to remember the tremendous blessing that His obedience bought for us.