I tell lots of stories about our 104 pound dog because I learn a lot of things from her. My brother Vito circled one verse in my prayer book and he wrote in the margin, “Celeste.” The verse reminded him of my walks with her.
1 Kings 8:23 talks about walking before God with all our hearts. When I walk Celeste, she couldn’t be happier. She is always eager to see the next thing on the path. That’s just how we should be! We should walk very closely to God (Heel!), and look forward to wherever He takes us.
Today I was thinking about another dog lessen. It is sometimes very hard for Celeste to resist running through our invisible fence. The fence is supposed to keep her inside by shocking her if she crosses the line. But, sometimes she feels like it’s worth it to run through the shock line… like if another dog shows up or she sees a squirrel outside of our property.
Recently Celeste ran out to chase another dog. After I got her back into our yard, I put her choke chain on and literally dragged her into the shock area so that she would remember clearly and painfully the consequence of escaping our yard. I am still working with her to teach her to obey consistently. So, while I sit outside on our step, spending time in God’s Word, I keep her choke chain nearby. As soon as she steps near the limit, looking longingly at dogs just outside her reach, I pick up and shake the choke chain. Just the sound of it makes her immediately jump back about 10 feet and to quickly decide to abide by the limits we’ve set.
That choke chain is much like our conscience. 2 Corinthians 1:12 talks clearly of the biblical concept of the conscience. If we are going to “listen to the choke chain” we must behave consistently – whether at church, at home, or wherever we find ourselves. We need to ask God to be totally in control of our lives and hearts so that even people outside our church notice that we belong to Jesus.
We need to be very sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But, we also need to accept His forgiveness and not echo a voice of condemnation. Like a tape recorder, sometimes we play over and over again the same tape that condemns us. Play. Rewind. Play. Rewind. But, remember, once God forgives us, he cleanses our consciences and doesn’t want us to grovel in our guilt.
This is a family prayer I wrote in my devotional for our Porter grandkids:
God, please convict us and guide us through our consciences. We want to please You without having to “cross the shock line.” Instead, help us to obey You from the get-go, using our consciences to guide us rather than convicting us of what we’ve already done wrong. Right now, though, we want to listen to You speak to our hearts about anything that we might have done wrong – whether it is a bad attitude, lack of thankfulness, hurtful words, or disobedience. We confess our sin before you, God, and now we thank You that You forgive and remove our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. Help us to live with a clear conscience today. Whenever Satan wants us to replay the tape recorder, help us remember that You have compassion on us and we should have compassion on ourselves as well. Thank You that Jesus paid the price for all our sins and paved the way to live guilt-free each day. Amen.
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