I'm Jonesin' For Jesus!!!

If you know me, you're probably reading the title and thinking, "What kind of Kool-Aid is he drinking, and where can I get some?!?" Because growing up, I was not the kind of person who was known as a follower of Christ. Not that I was a wild child, mind you, but I was certainly not a saint, either.

Before I go on, let me define "jonesin'": "Jonesin'" is simply a slang term that is defined as having a desire or craving for something, whether it be good or bad. For me, when I get a jonesin', it's usually for a particular food that I haven't had in a while. While that can be a good thing, it could turn into a bad thing later! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky...) But I digress; let's get back to my story.

As I kid, I never enjoyed going to church. To me it was three hours of complete boredom (except for Sunday school or whenever we had a potluck dinner; I love to eat!). But eventually, I knew that I needed Christ in my life; I was saved in the summer of 1987 and in November 1988 at the age of fourteen I was baptized at Gates Baptist Church in Gates, Tennessee. However, I stepped into the waters with a false assumption; I thought that baptism would guarantee my ticket into Heaven when I die. For the next twenty years, I lived life under the false assumption that I was living my life for Christ. After I left home, I occasionally went to church, but did not commit myself to a home church again until 1999, when I decided to move my membership to First Baptist Church in Halls, Tennessee where I had started attending regularly. Then in 2000, I moved to Clarksville with my wife and when I came here, finding a new home church was on my to-do list. Although I visited a few churches at first, I never did settle down; in fact, I once again stopped going, mainly because of my new work schedule.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law had been recently attending a local church here in town, not more than five or six minutes from my house, traffic depending. At first I resisted, but finally one Sunday morning not too long ago, I made the decision to go. Hilldale Baptist Church is very large and quite nice, and I really enjoyed the sermon. But it was on this day that, for the first time in quite a while, I truly felt God's presence upon me, and I knew that it was time to change my life for the better.

I started praying more often (though I still need to do better). I starting listening to contemporary Christian music again, and found myself enjoying it so much that, except for sports talk radio, it's all I've been listening to. I began to think before I spoke or acted. (For those of you who don't know me, I have a very bad case of potty mouth!) I couldn't wait for Sunday to come so I could go back to church again. I was embracing my Christianity in a way I never had before. In short, I found myself "jonesin' for Jesus".

Then yesterday, my spiritual life changed yet again. The senior pastor was away for a revival in Mississippi, so one of the other pastors gave the sermon. He talked about giving your burdens to God and that he had committed his life to Christ so many times he had lost count. At that moment, I knew God was speaking to me; I too had recommitted my life to Him over and over again. No longer was it enough for me to say it; I had to prove it. So I decided to recommit my life to Christ once more, but this time by entering the waters of baptism again. I now knew that baptism wasn't the end of the journey, but the beginning... and that I had found a home at Hilldale Baptist Church.

I don't know what date I'll actually be baptized, though I'm sure I'll find out in time. But for now, back to the task at hand. I'm jonesin' for Jesus... and a footlong tuna sub!

Love in Christ,
Tracy E. Lilly