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Training for Obedience
By Bill Money


"... For the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.ÔÇØ Hebrews 12:6

"No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11

Don Bell tells a story of a pack horse that was very self-willed (Guideposts, August 1992).

The horse was determined to do things his way. He gave Don a lot of trouble when Don was getting the pack on the horse. The other horses accepted the packs well, without fussing, but this horse was determined to get his way and fought Don putting on the pack.

The flies were bad that summer. They were climbing up a high narrow trail, about 100 yards above the river, cut into solid rock on the side of the mountain.

When the difficult bronco came to the narrowest place in the trail, he stopped and began kicking at the flies. Suddenly the broncoÔÇÖs hind foot slipped off the catwalk and over the cliff he went. Don figured he was dead.

After getting the rest of the horses to camp he went back to check on the horse. As he was going down the river, here the old bronco came toward him, glad to see him. Don checked him over and he looked okay. The next day the horse was stiff and lame, but nothing was broken. He never gave them any trouble after that. By the end of the season he was one of their top horses.

Sometimes you and I are like that horse. We are determined to get our own way. We fight and kick when God tries to put a pack saddle on us to carry a load that is important to Him, but perhaps we do not want or are afraid of.

We can get pretty obstinate. And sometimes, God lets us fall off a cliff where we get banged up a bit (or a lot) but not killed. If we are smart, we will use the fall as a wake-up call to change our attitude and change our behavior, like the horse did.

We can then become one of God's top servants. But wouldn't it be better to avoid the cliff in the first place? Wouldn't it be better to submit to God's authority the first time, instead of His having to let us fall off a cliff to bring us into submission?

You see, He is determined that we become like Jesus (Romans 8:29). And Jesus did not do anything except what He saw the Father doing. (John 5:19) Obedience is how we carry out the greatest commandment, which is to love God wholeheartedly.

Falling down a cliff is hard, and hurts a lot. I have gone down entirely too many of them because of my stubbornness and self-will. There is a better way: it is called choosing to obey, and prompt obedience is best