Wag Like a Dog

When I (Aimee) was in high school we got a dog (not our first, but we had been without a dog for several years at this point).  Jacks was a beautiful little mutt with long reddish-brown hair who won the hearts of every person who saw him.  He was a small-to-medium size dog who fit comfortably in your lap and would cuddle with you for as long as you wanted.  He loved to cuddle!  He was a very docile dog.  He didn’t play with toys; he just wanted to be with you whether walking or sitting.  Despite being so docile, he had this habit that when he was really excited his tail would wag so hard that his whole back end would shake back and forth with the momentum of it, and eventually he would lose his footing a little as his back end would wag and his whole body would end up moving back and forth a little.  Now that’s excitement!  That’s joy!

I can’t shake that image lately.  Last week I met with my pastor to listen to a web seminar about evangelism.  The speaker was talking about being excited for Christ and he referred to the image of a dog’s tail wagging and I immediately thought of Jacks.  I have to admit that I became lost in thought for a moment thinking about Jacks and his wagging body, and I found myself thinking that I want to be that excited about Jesus.  I want to be so excited that I can’t contain it and it spills out into my actions and movements so that everyone can see it and everyone will know what it is.

At the conference that I attended last week we were again encouraged to be excited for Christ, recognizing that it is on His power that we rely, not our own, and we can trust that His power will always be sufficient.  That’s exciting!  If we were only relying on our own abilities then we would have every right to be afraid and discouraged; but we’re not.  We’re relying on the One who created the heavens and the earth, the One who has the power to heal the sick, the One in whose name demons tremble!  That is the power that He gives to us, His followers.  That’s exciting!

Be excited for Christ and the power of Christ that is passed to us through the Holy Spirit that we might be empowered to fulfill His mission throughout the world of spreading the Gospel, which is the good news of Jesus Christ!  Amen.