"Tent Meetin'"

When he came to that tent meetin’,

He had mud caked on his boots,

But when he heard the music,

It brought back to him his roots,

Of when his mama made very sure,

He was at the Sunday School,

Where he first heard songs of Jesus,

And they taught the Golden Rule.

And he sang along there softly,

As they played Amazing Grace,

And sorta got embarrassed,

By the teardrops on his face.

The preacher spoke of Jesus,

How He died to set men free,

And when the music played again,

He thought, it’s all for me.

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,

The words touched his soul as they sang,

And then he went down to that altar,

If they laughed he did not care a dang.

‘Cause the music and message got to him,

A cowboy as tough as they come,

He gave his whole life to Jesus,

And never again would he run.

And now that old boy is a preacher,

And he sings and he preaches just fine,

Down where the livin’ is horseback,

And the cowboys don’t do it part-time.

And one after ‘nother’s got baptized,

And down there they sing and they shout,

‘Cause when they bring those old outlaws to Jesus,

Salvation is what it’s about.

All because someone told him the story,

And sang to him songs that were true,

And maybe we might learn a lesson,

‘Bout something that we might just do.

“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” (Ephesians 2:8, NLT)

The most amazing thing about amazing grace is that we cannot earn or deserve it on any level. It is God’s unmerited favor and is based entirely on His goodness not ours. That said, our faith in receiving it is more than mere intellectual agreement. It is a deep turning away from ourselves to put our entire trust in Him to do for us what is impossible otherwise. It is also a surrender of our lives to His lordship. It’s one thing to say we believe Jesus died for us and quite another to say that the way of the cross is something we claim. Grace is free but it is not cheap. And the faith that receives God’s gift also rejects self-rule.

Lord, help us fully receive Your grace, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Bruce Greene, used by permission. Thanks, Bruce, and God bless you.