What “Dead Broke” Teaches Us About Obedience | Crossroads VisualArticles

They call it "Dead Broke". And it may be the clearest picture of obedience you'll ever see. Eugene Peterson wrote a book called "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction". In it, he says, "Our world has a big market for religious experience and very little appetite for the slow work of becoming good". That's the problem. We live in a time of instant everything so most people walk right past this ancient road. But nobody suddenly obeys. We learn it over time, through experience, and a lot of the time it's painful. One thing before we go on, don't limit your idea of suffering and don't compare yours to anyone else. It can be a health battle in the body or the mind. It can be a relationship lost, money trouble or persecution hard is hard. To understand the broken horse, start with Jesus. Hebrews says that though he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And he suffered in many ways. He waited about 30 years before his public work. 18, if you count from the age of 12, when he already knew who he was. Think of that, a carpenter in Nazareth, unknown, knowing he carried a mission that would shake the world. Could you wait decades between being called and being sent?

He was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness by an enemy who never let up. Being the Son of God didn't make it easier. He took on our conditions and he was tempted the way we are. The only difference is that he never gave in. Then he poured himself out in ministry until he was worn out, wondering, like we do, where tomorrow's strength would come from. He had no home. He said that foxes have holes and birds have nests. But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. He went wherever the father sent him, not knowing where he'd sleep or where the next meal would come from. His own people didn't receive him. One of his closest friends betrayed him and the others abandoned him. The cross was the deepest breaking, but it wasn't the only one. His whole life was shaped by it. And Scripture says that's how he learned obedient. Now the horse. Trainers talk about levels. Level zero is the wild horse, a Mustang. It thinks it knows exactly where to go and what to do. Proud and a little arrogant. Strong with real potential. Free to do whatever it wants. Level one is called "Green Broke".

The training has just begun and it's frustrating and painful. The horse still needs the bit and the bridle. It's learning, but it still badly wants to run wild like the Mustang. It has a little self-control now. This is the new believer. Learning the Bible. Trying to break old habits and live the way Jesus said. And still slipping, but on the right road. Level two is broke. This horse is well-trained. It still needs the bit and the bridle, but it clearly answers to the rider. It understands why the training mattered because even though it wasn't pleasant, it produced obedience. It slips now and then, just far less often. A lot of Christians who've walked with God for years are right here. Level three is dead broke, the highest level. The horse doesn't need the bit or the bridle anymore. It simply wants to go where the rider said. They're so connected that a nudge of the heel or a click of the tongue is enough. The rider says go, the horse goes. The rider says stay. The horse stays. All it cares about is staying in sync with the rider. The psalms say it this way. Don't be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding.

They have to be held in with a bit and bridle or else they will not come near you. And isn't it striking that the best-trained horse is called dead broke? The horse has died to its own wants and plans and put itself under the rider. Picture two competitions. In the first, a rider is on a wild horse, bucking and screaming. Where does the crowd look? At the horse. In the second, the rider is on a dead broke horse that does whatever he says. It's the same for us. When our obedience to God is real and steady, we don't get the glory. He does. But it takes time, discipline and training to get them. Jesus is to the Father what the dead broke horse is to the rider. And we're meant to be like that horse. You didn't choose every hard thing you carry. But the road is long and almost nobody gets there fast. Keep walking it. [MUSIC]