I’m a card-carrying member of AAA. No, not Alcoholics Anonymous but the American Automobile Association! I’m also sought after by many groups to become one of their members. An online retail seller is always after us to join them…for a price. The Cremation Society is hot on my trail, which burns me up! Today the Neptune Society sent me a similar invitation. Neptune? Pagan Roman water god? What are they offering? Burial at sea? And I can’t even swim! I’m putting them both off as long as possible!

Joining most of these groups requires little commitment except for something in the fine print about shekels and gelt. When it comes to Jesus, there’s much more involved in membership. More than your money. More than toting a card around. Much more than signing on the dotted line.

When you’re in Christ, you and Jesus become partners. In effect, a marriage occurs. We become the Bride of Christ. Part of His body. Through His Holy Spirit, and by faith alone, Jesus inhabits us. A oneness occurs similar to when a man and a woman marry, and they are no longer two but one.

Okay, signing on the dotted line happens on their marriage license for the local authorities. But if the couple exhibits maturity, they know, or soon will, that their relationship is far more complex than using a pen to sign some legal document following a few ‘I do’s’ and ‘I will’s’.

The more I get into my Bible, the more my thinking changes. Less about good old me, I, and myself. An unholy trinity. For I’m becoming increasingly sensitive to what Jesus wants. That WWJD wrist bracelet I used to wear didn’t mean ‘what would John do’. Much to my disappointment. It’s about Jesus and what He wants. Why does it take hard knocks to get that message into my craw that His way is for the best, no matter what? Resistance is just plain dumb.

Something else I note. I’ve been writing stories since I was 8 years old. I have some of those early beauties tucked away in a lower drawer of an old desk, burrowed far out of sight in our garage as these gems are rather kid’s stuff. Like that mystery story entitled ‘The Mystery of the Dope’. No, it’s not autobiographical but about drugs, smartypants! What do you expect from someone that age?

But now, a few years older (!), I don’t spend my time penning childish tales but rather what grabs me about my Lord Jesus. Bite-sized messages that I publish weekly to be of help. Using the gifts God has given me for Him, and for others. For you.

Not to make money. Actually, it’s been quite the contrary. And not for bragging rights, being the only one in my family to have written and published a book or two. But for Him and His own. To make a difference in Jesus’ Kingdom while I inhabit this earth before I ‘shuffle off this mortal coil’ (‘Hamlet’ by W. Shakespeare).

That’s some of what being a member of the Body of Christ means. Figure out your part. Function well in His body. Whatever that is, don’t say you’ll do it, do it!

Give your best for the Lord Jesus.

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me much to do for you. What an honor. Amen.