“Hurry Onward, O Believer”
Hurry onward, O believer,
be not bound to life down here.
Ne’er forget you have a treasure:
life in heav’n awaits you there.
Refrain:
Christ your Savior and Lord
waves the vict’ry flag at Calv’ry,
And he holds the cross before you,
leading on to victory.
There are many on life’s journey
who are searching for new life,
But this world they love more dearly,
ne’er engaging in the strife.
Refrain
So receive the shield provided,
take your sword in your right hand.
They are weapons for your warfare
as you journey to the end.
Refrain
Canaan soon is drawing nearer,
land we’ll always keep in view,
For up there is kept the treasure
which by grace God promised you.
Devotion
During my tenure as a missionary in Madagascar from 1955 to 1972, I had the pleasure of learning many hymns in the mother tongue, Malagasy.
Rainimilavonjy, a sainted Malagasy Lutheran, wrote a hymn for saints on their way to the Promised Land. The tune is a long-forgotten gospel song, “Shall we meet” (not to be confused with “Shall we gather”). I have translated it for English-speaking Christians to sing as they go on life’s journey with Jesus:
Prayer
O Lamb of God, most holy, on Calvary an off’ring;
Despised, meek, and lowly, Thou in Thy death and suff’ring
Our sins didst bear, our anguish;
The might of death didst vanquish; Give us Thy peace, O Jesus.
Nikolaus Decius, 1541