"Themes of Lent: Obedience"

We have signed up to take our dog to obedience school. On the application form the question was asked, "Are there any particular problems you hope to see addressed in obedience school?" I wrote, "Biting and poops in dinning room." I get the biting--I mean, I suppose (though I have never had a dog before, so I may be I am assuming wrong) that all puppy's like to bite and chew--but I do not get the pooping in the dining room. It is the weirdest thing, the puppy goes to the door to tell us he needs to potty, but if he gets any where near the Dinning room its as though pooping becomes involuntary. I am very curious to see what obedience school has to teach us about dining room pooping.

I can say that I think the $80 bucks we are paying is every bit worth learning how to train your dog in obedience. Like, I said, this whole dog thing is new to me (By the way, I really do not want to receive 100 emails telling me dog raising tips; I'll save that energy for obedience school :-). But I know enough to know I want an obedient dog. How nice to have something called obedience school. Heck, I'm even open to seeing if what I learn for my dog applies to my kids :-)! Of course, God could say the same thing about me--I too could use obedience school.

One thing is for sure, the reason me, my kids and my dog need obedience school is because obedience does not come to us naturally. Disobedience...doing what I want, my way...now that comes as naturally as breathing; but obedience, well, that seems as foreign as breathing under water. However, maturity is about accepting that obedience does not withhold the good life from us, but opens us to the good life. I tell my kids all the time, "When you listen to me and your mom, life is a lot more fun." No sooner do I tell my kids that, then I open the Bible and hear Jesus telling me the same thing. We read it on Sunday in John 15:10-11, "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Obedience is not God's kill joy, it is God's invitation to having your joy made complete.

However, the truth still remains that obedience is not natural. Obedience must be learned. The problem is there is obedience school for dogs, but not for us. On second thought, that is not true. The Bible explains there is an obedience school that we are invited to allow God to enroll us in.

Look at Hebrews 12: 7-11: "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 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! 10 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. 11 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."

The word discipline does not mean punishment, but all that goes into raising a child to be healthy. We are invited to "endure hardship" as our obedience school. In other words, rather than let the hardships of life come and go with out any lasting benefit, learn to let God train you in and through hard times. No one says that is easy, but the harvest it produces is worth it.

Well, our dog, Butterball, is signed up for obedience school regardless of whether or not he wants to be enrolled. God, on the other hand, will not require any one to sign up for obedience school. He leaves that up to you and me?