In John 15:11 Jesus told his disciples to "remain in his love." Earlier in the chapter he referenced the need to stay connected to the vine, the source of life. But in verse 11 Jesus promised our joy would be "full" or "complete" if we remained in him.
I love the story Len Sweet tells in his book, "I Am a Follower." He relates how that when the New Testament was translated into some the Eskimo dialects, there were no words that corresponded to what Scripture was saying so they had to look to something within the culture that would help paint a picture of what was being said. One such challenge was to find something to represent the word "joy." There was no word in some of the Eskimo dialects for this word.
In their search for something in the life of the Eskimos that pictured joy, they discovered that families that owned sled dogs experienced great joy when the sled dogs were fed every evening. It was a family time; sled dogs would come running; barking and yelping and wagging their tail. In some instances it was such a joyous occasion that neighbors would come out and join in the excitement.
The translators chose to use this experience to describe the emotion of the disciple’s encounters with Jesus. And you guessed it, the Eskimo translation read, "When the disciples saw Jesus, they wagged their tails."
Perhaps, as Len Sweet suggested, we could identify a true follower of Christ by checking to see if their tail is wagging.
Just a thought…….hope it brings a smile and makes your tail wag!
Always in Pursuit!
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