Love, Obedience and Training Horses

I love horses. I have ridden all my life, and it has been one of my dreams to break in a youngster so it can be ridden, to build that bond of trust with an animal that is so close it will respond to the slightest movement of the reins, and to be the one whose instructions it follows.

That is the sort of relationship Jesus wants us to have with Him. Not only does He want us to be responsive to His commands, He wants us to be eager and listening to Him. But He doesn’t want us anticipating or assuming we know what He is going to ask us, but He wants us to be listening for His signal, just as the best trained horse does. He wants us to listen to Him.

But there is one vital ingredient which makes this relationship so special; and that is love. When a horse loves and trusts you, you can get the best out of them. And that is what God wants us to do – to love and trust Him, not so He can get the best out of us but that we want to give our best, our best listening and our best attention. He wants us to love and trust Him so we can enjoy relationship with Him, just as I enjoy simply spending time with my horses.

But, in this world, we are so often encouraged to be the rider and make God into the horse. Yet God is the one who knows what instructions to give – not us. If you started to try to train a horse without knowing how to ride, both horse and rider would end up confused and lose their way. God does not want this for us. That is why He wants us to be obedient. It is out of love for us. He wants us to be in a place of loving obedience to Him, a place where we can learn to be the people He has made us to be.

Prayer: Loving Father, please help us to grow in love for You today, and, from that love, help us to grow in obedience and willingness to follow Your word. Let our ears and heart be ever ready to respond to Your voice. Amen.