Training Time! …Hello weekend readers. My musings are on one main thing: obedience! Yep, you, like me, probably don’t like that word but in these last two weeks I have seen obedience in so many ways and sadly, not the good way—the bad way that says “I don’t follow your rules, etc.” Last week up in Granby Colorado, we saw this constantly. Kids running around the campground on golf-carts, 2 dogs per site—heck no, we had some with 7 dogs and they came after our dog and others. The hot tubs are for 12 and over. Mom’s actually put their babies in that hot water, one cried so hard I went over to help. I guess obedience is on its way out and that will make a mess in our world that only God could make it right again.

So, here’s a short story about my favorite horse—the Arabian! They go through rigorous training more than any other horse. They are required for absolute obedience—why? In the deserts of the Middle East where it is hot, arid and sand-storms that can kill you in seconds, you need to be obedient in what you do because it can kill you—and a horse! An untrained horse would die immediately. They teach these horses to go without water for days, then they turn them loose and send them to the water but before they can drink the trainer blows his whistle. Believe it or not, they stop and come back to the trainer. They have shown their obedience and off they go to drink and roll and frolic in water!

You probably think this is quite severe, but again in Arabia your life is entrusted to a horse and a horse who is not obedient can kill you and themselves. This training reminds me of my parents! We needed to obey so we wouldn’t get hurt. Did we listen and do what they knew we needed to do? Well, when we’re kids, we like to push the line and we find out it’s not a good thing. However, if you are smart enough you realize that obedience gives your life in wonderful ways and that is exactly what God wants us to do.

In 1 Peter 1:13-16 using the Message Bible, we heed the words from the Apostle Peter when it comes to obedience…he says: “So roll up your sleeves, get your head in the game, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then—you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

We all need to be trained from young to old and do-it-again because we so easily drop the obedience God wants us to have because we want something else. When we are tempted to find that “easy way out” thinking God is not paying attention to our disobedience, we usually wind up with suffering and a lot of hurt.

So, my friends, when you’re tempted to find the easy way out through disobedience to God, remember those words from Peter and choose to obey. Trust that God knows what’s best for you and that even means suffering. You are never alone; God is with you 24/7 and God will indeed care for your every need!

O Lord, help me to embrace the joy of your obedience even if it’s hard. O Holy Spirit, when it seems easier to disobey, tap me on the head and remind me who I am, a child of God who wants me to walk in obedience so my life is filled with grace, forgiveness and joy. AMEN.