Do We need a Choker?

Our dog, Rocko, a belgian tervuren, as big and fierce as he is, is just like a regular dog to us.  He is a guard dog, whose bark scares people who knock on our gate, and that makes him a good deterrent for would be criminals who will hopefully think twice before trying to enter our house.  (My prayer everyday is that God will protect our home, and use Rocko as His instrument)
But for us, he is our family dog.  He gets as excited as any other dog when we arrive home.  And he has also grown to be a "house dog", as he stays with us inside the house.  The only time he is not inside the house is at night because we make him sleep outside.  It's a routine for him.  From the moment we wake up he stays with us inside the house, but when the last one to sleep begins to close the lights he begins to slowly walk out the front door.

But this routine was broken when we had him sleep overnight inside the house. Rocko gets hyper and bothered when it rains hard, and most especially when it starts to thunder.  He runs around trying to find the thunder, following the vibration, frantically trying to run after it.  And as long as it is raining hard he does not like staying outside.  So, there was one night when we had him sleep inside the house because he did not want to go outside.  The one night turned into two, then three. It was no problem...he wasn't peeing or pooping inside the house, but eventually, even when it wasn't raining, he did not want to sleep outside anymore.  And even when we would call him to go out, he would start to hide under the table.

Then, I noticed one thing - he wasn't wearing his choker.  A choker is a chain type collar made of light iron, that is really made to be what it is called -  a choker.  This is one of the ways to train a dog to obey (one that not everyone agrees with, but we have seen its advantage, as I will share).  When a dog is not obeying a command, a little pull on the chain will slightly choke the dog, something very uncomfortable, and the dog will eventually relate disobedience to the pull and yank.  So, to remind him who is in charge, a little pull on the chain will remind him.
And that's what happened - we put back the choker on him.  And when it was time for him to go out all we had to do was hold the chain, and even without pulling on it, he would obey and follow our orders for him to go out of the house.
That is important for a dog - to remind him who is in charge, and part of that is using the choker.  He identifies the discomfort of being slightly choked with disobedience, and ends up obeying even while we're just holding the choker.

It reminds me of how the Lord does not want to deal with us.
Psalms 32:8-9  I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.  (9)  Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you.

When God becomes our Lord and Master He begins to teach us and show us the way we should live.  God counsels us through His word, and the working of the Spirit, as He watches over us every moment of our lives.

In the psalm the Lord reminds His people not to be like the horse or the mule which have no understanding, but need a bit and bridle to hold them in check.  In other words God doesn't want us being choked, holding us in check with a choker, reminding us painfully to obey.  God wants us to obey with all our heart, willingly and cheerfully obeying His teaching and counsel to us.

Sadly, there are many times in our life when our God will lovingly use a choker to keep us in check.  But the point is for us to eventually not need a choker, and just lovingly and willingly obeying His every teaching and counsel to us.

And you know what moves us to obey?

Psa 32:7  You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 

When we hide in Him.  When He becomes our refuge.  That's when we see that it is our God who preserves us from trouble, and surrounds us when we are in trouble and delivers us.  This is when we realize that His every command, His every counsel, is meant for us to be safe, safe from this world and from the enemy who only has one desire - to steal, kill and destroy.  This is when our obedience becomes loving and willing.

So, do we need a choker?  Or will we make the Lord our hiding place and lovingly and willfully receive His teaching and counsel.