I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, ELW 611 and LBW 497
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Come unto me and rest;
lay down, O weary one, lay down your head upon my breast."
I came to Jesus as I was, so weary, worn and sad;
I found in him a resting-place, and he has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Behold, I freely give
the living water, thirsty one; stoop down and drink and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "I am this dark world's light;
look unto me, your morn shall rise, and all your day be bright."
I looked to Jesus, and I found in him my star, my sun;
and in that light of life I'll walk till trav'ling days are done.
Devotion
There is one person who hasn’t gotten much attention in Mark’s gospel story (Mark 1:21-28): the man who was filled with the unclean spirit. What must life have been like for him? With a word from Jesus – ‘come out!’ – he is healed and his life is changed. A young boy I know has cancer. I would give anything to speak such a word to him. But no human words can cause the cancer to go away. Nor can they cause the mental illness to be cured or the loved one to return from the dead. The only one whose words have such power is Jesus.
Jesus may not be present physically to speak those words to us. But Jesus’ words do live on. The lyrics of this hymn reminds us that Jesus’ words still have power – power to heal a wounded soul, to give hope for a better future.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, may I hear your words ringing in my ears every day of my life. Amen.