05 August 2008 Devotion for Today “A Dog with Two Tails” Acts 2:41-42

05 August 2008 Devotion for Today “A Dog with Two Tails” Acts 2:41-42

Its been over five years now that the chairman of the pastor search committee at the church where I now serve said to me, “Preacher, you look as happy as a dog with two tails!” He noted my response when I found out that the church called me here unanimously, but I never have forgotten his very appropriate, if not peculiar, way of describing my feelings at that moment. But I was happy! It didn’t take me long to pick up on the dialect, the inflection of the language, as well as the words and phrases unique to this part of North Carolina. Actor Andy Griffith is a resident of our region, so you can imagine how rich our heritage and language is here. But one phrase I have never cared for is the expression, “joining church.” “When I was eleven years old when I joined church.” Frankly, this expression scares me, and here is why: It first of all doesn’t say anything about a person’s personal commitment to Jesus Christ- only that they might have walked an aisle, filled out a membership card. It expresses nothing of a prior conversion experience which includes heartfelt repentance, faith in Christ to save you and a commitment to follow Him in obedience. “Joining church” just doesn’t communicate this idea at all.

I remember we had a preacher in a church I was in one time- this was back in the 1970s and he said, “We’re going to sing all fifteen stanzas of Just As I Am until somebody comes down that aisle!” Finally somebody got up and went and it made me wonder if this guy did it just so we could all go home! Thank the Lord he did or we might still be there! That doesn’t tell us that they gladly received the Word. Then got baptized because they wanted to please mama or daddy- or that they did it for some other reason other than the fact that they got truly saved through a personal experience with Jesus Christ. Not these three thousand souls who were added to the church in Acts 2. They gladly received Peter’s word- they weren’t coaxed into it, forced into it, cajoled into it, tricked or manipulated into it- they personally asked Christ to come into their hearts- all three thousand of them- and were excited about the new life they would now experience because of what Christ did for them.

This experience of commitment doesn’t just wagged with one tail, but two:

“And fear, it says in verse 43 came upon every soul.”

That idea does not mean terror, but an awe of who Jesus Christ is. Their hearts were moved, emotionally the thought of what sins had done to them caused them to weep, but they wept out of gratitude and appreciation of what Jesus had done for them- saving them from their sins. If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raise Him from the dead, you will be saved. A church member is first of all a saved church member who has a steadfast commitment to the Lord who has never lost the wonder or awe of what Christ has done for him. In fact, that awe grows richer and fuller as the steadfastness grows deeper.

May the meaning you derive from being a member of your church grow to the extent of your steadfastness and awe of Jesus Christ.

Have a blessed day!