Daily Devotional

When I began full time ministry, I served as a solo pastor in a country church near the towns of Susquehanna and Oakland in northern Pennsylvania.  I served there for 5-years. I had gone to this church right out of seminary, and I began learning all the things that were never taught to me in preparing for pastoral ministry.  As a native Californian, being transplanted on the east coast was quite a life change.  There was so much history, that up to that point in my life, I had only read about.  Now I was seeing the actual places where events took place that shaped the foundation of our Country.  During that time, I heard stories about how the itinerate evangelists would come through the area preaching anywhere people would gather. Many of the crossroads in the countryside would have little churches started by these evangelists.  The church where I served was started in this way.

The older folks who attended the church would talk about events they had seen or events their family members had witnessed first-hand.  One of the things they talked about were the revival meetings of the early 20th century.  Many of the revivals would be held in tents or tabernacles.  The dirt floors were covered with sawdust to dampen the noise and keep down the dust.  When people wanted to be saved, they were asked to come down front during the invitation at the end of the meeting.  These people were referred to as coming to Christ by “walking or hitting the sawdust trail.”  Rev. William A. (Billy) Sunday popularized the term when he repeatedly used the metaphor throughout his career as an evangelist. He told his audiences to "hit the sawdust trail" and give their lives to Jesus. At his revival meetings, "trail hitters" would walk up the center aisle covered with sawdust and shake Sunday's hand as a public confession of their conversion experience.

People were encouraged to come forward in these meetings and to openly confess their faith in Christ.  This was based on the Scriptures that say, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.”  (Matthew 10:32) This marked the beginning of an individual’s life with Christ as they trusted in Him as their personal Savior.

Making a public confession, was like placing a marker in the minds of those who walked forward.  They could look back on the event and say that this was the time they came to know Christ and experienced the forgiveness of sins.  This was when their lives began to change as they started their spiritual journey with the Lord.  

Assurance of one’s salvation is a very important thing.  I remember those early years in my walk with Christ, I struggled with having complete assurance that I was a true child of God.  The enemy tried to snatch away those seeds of faith God had planted in my heart.  I remember coming to the place in my life that I trusted what God’s Word said about me.  I believed the Gospel, that Christ died for my sins and rose again the third day to give me life. “Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel…by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, …that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:1–5) By faith I took hold of the truth that I had believed the gospel and as a result I was truly a son of God.  No longer was I going to give in to Satan’s temptation to doubt my salvation in Christ.

Maybe today you struggle with having the full assurance that you are a child of God.  You don’t have as the people who “walked the sawdust trail” a marker in your life when you believed.  A marker isn’t necessary, but you do need to have complete confidence that you are a true believer in Christ.  Without it you will not make much progress in your spiritual life.  When you are tempted to doubt your salvation, you need to ask yourself, “Do I truly believe the Gospel that Christ is Lord and that He died for my sin and rose again?”  The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, that if you have put your trust in this Gospel you are saved.  The Holy Spirit will then bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God.  (1 Corinthians 2:10–13) As a child of God, He will never leave you or forsake you.  “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:24) God will never let go of you for He has promised to complete His work in you.  You can declare with assurance that you are God’s child!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, that you paid the complete price for my salvation.  You want me to have confidence that I am a part of Your family.  Thank you that I can trust the Scriptures and as a result have assurance of my salvation.  Help me Lord to grow daily in knowing You more.  Amen

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.