Rev. Ray and Pat Amos
Even When We Feel Like a Muddy Dog at a Wedding, Jesus Cares
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
“Leviticus 19:34”
Have you ever been an alien in church? I cannot say enough about the need for friendliness and a welcoming spirit in the House of God. The past year of being in many congregations has been an eye opener for us. We have been in some wonderful gatherings that made us feel like old friends the moment we walked through the door. There have been some where you entered a stranger, and you left the same way.
After such an experience, a man once said to me that he felt like a muddy dog in a wedding. To quote James in the Bible, “These things ought not to be so.”
For many folks those times are a disappointment, but for others it may mean their eternity. We will never know how many have stood outside trying to muster the courage to come in. Some will never understand “What a friend we have in Jesus,” if they can’t even find a friend in his house.
“I was a stranger and you took me in.” Did we?
“Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press,
And the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?”
It is amazing how much more meaningful that hymn is when we all sing it together as friends:
“O yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary,
The long night dreary,
I know my Savior cares.”
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
Link to YouTube Video –
Does Jesus Care When My Heart is Pained
