True Obedience (Rally Trial- Part 2)

As mentioned in the previous post, we recently entered a Rally Obedience event. In one of the trials, Bison obeyed every command but chewed on his dangling leash through the entire run. It was a way to let off his drive, blow nervous energy. His obedience was only on the outside, it wasn’t in his heart. Though he technically followed the rules, it wasn’t TRUE obedience.

This was the second lesson that I learned from our first Rally experience. Obedience that doesn’t come from the heart is not true obedience. I think of the beginning of Psalm 119 (below) which talks about following God’s law from the heart. Yet, so many times we go through the motions. We go to church, say our prayers, read our token chapters of the Bible, but never let it reach our heart. Like Bison, our efforts to follow the “rules” fall short of TRUE obedience. Instead, as the passage describes, we need to seek him with our whole heart.

Psalm 119:1 – 11“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

Looking in the Mirror

To work on Bison’s previously mentioned klutziness and jumping problem, we enrolled in an agility class. The class is at a club that we have never trained with before. The first night, Bison was very distracted in general with the new place, new instructor, new dogs... One distraction though became a lesson to me.

The club has a few places where they have placed mirrors on the wall. They are about 18 inches by 4 feet tall. Each time we walked by the mirror, Bison stopped to look at himself in the mirror. The first couple of times he did it, it was cute like he was saying, “Who’s that handsome guy”. But after five or six times, it was annoying. It was to the point that he wasn’t able to do the obstacles because he was so focused on himself.

It hit me that I am like that sometimes too. I focus so much on myself that the obstacles of life trip me up. This concept reminds me of an acrostic for “Joy” that I learned as a child, Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. This is based on Matthew 22:36-40 “ Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Focus on loving God first of all, then others, then yourself. When in times of trouble it is very easy to reverse that and just like Bison, focus so much on myself that the rest of the world just stops. Its time to put away the mirror.

Listen to the Voice

Every Saturday, our club meets together to practice all three phases of Schutzhund (See links on the right for more info). During the obedience portion, there are 3 to 4 dog and handler teams on the field at one time. This saves time, and also helps the dogs get used to the distractions that they will encounter in trials. One training session, I was working on the field the same time as one of the club helpers (See Terms on the right), Tim. Bison LOVES Tim. This created a problem because everytime Tim would say “Free” to release his dog, Bison thought he was released from what he was doing too. I had to teach Bison that he needed to only obey MY voice and no one else. I walked over by where the club members sit when it isn’t their turn to train. I told Bison to lay down. Then I asked several of the club members to take turns saying “Free!”. If Bison stood up, I have him a collar correction (See Terms on the right). If he stayed in the down position, I said “Good Boy!” and gave him a treat. After about 5 – 6 minutes of repeating this exercise, Bison finally got it, even with Tim standing a few feet away and saying “Free!” Bison learned to shut everything else out and listen to my voice.

As I think about this exercise, I see how it is similar to my relationship with God and how I need to listen for His voice. I don’t mean this in a supernatural way, like a big booming voice from heaven. In I Kings 19, we learn from the story of Elijah that even in Bible times when He spoke in an audible voice, it was a “still small voice”. I think this example shows that God directs our path when we pay attention. In my life, His “still small voice” has come through my parents, teachers, my pastor, and the Bible. When I seek to do what is right, to listen to His voice, I can hear it. And just like Bison had to ignore the voices of my club members, I have to ignore all the other “voices” of self centeredness, fear, covetousness, and pride for God’s to become clear.

Here are some other thoughts on “Listening to Gods Voice”
1. God’s voice calls us to Salvation. We accept him as our savior and ask forgiveness for our sin. (See first post regarding Salvation). Revelation 3:20 states, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” and John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
2. God treasures those who obey His voice. Exodus 19:5 “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:”
3. God promises blessings to those who obey His voice. There are multiple times in the Old Testament when He tells the nation of Israel that He will bless them if they obey him. For example, Jeremiah 7:23says “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.”
4. God gives strength and peace through His voice. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 29:11 where God promises strength to His people. This verse is at the end of a chapter describing the strength of his voice. I believe this means that our strength comes from the voice of the Lord, The Bible. That is why it is so important to memorize the scripture. I can not count the times when circumstances in my life were very difficult and a particular verse would pop into my head that gave me the strength to go on.

Here is the whole chapter of Psalm 29. “1Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 3The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 4The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. 7The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. 8The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. 10The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. 11The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.”