Saturday, March 7, 2015

Devotion

Come, thou Fount of ev'ry blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
While the hope of endless glory
fills my heart with joy and love,
teach me ever to adore thee;
may I still thy goodness prove.

Here I raise my Ebenezer:
"Hither by thy help I've come";
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wand'ring from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be;
let that grace now like a fetter
bind my wand'ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.

At first glance, this hymn may not seem very Lenten. We did, after all, sing it at our wedding—a most joyous of occasions. But when you look closely at the words, it makes sense:

"Oh, to grace how great a debtor; Daily I'm constrained to be; Let that grace now like a fetter; Bind my wand'ring heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love.

Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it; Seal it for thy courts above."

This hymn is full of admitting our faults. Isn't that what Lent is about? Self-examination and acknowledging our limitations are part of preparing ourselves in the days leading up to Good Friday so that when we arrive there, we know for certain that we are unable to atone for our sin on our own. This time of reflection is not so much about making sure we feel nice and guilty; it's about realizing the enormity of Jesus' death and resurrection. It's about remembering the depth of our sin set against the vastness of God's love. How could God's love possibly be big enough to take away our sin? It's a question on all of our hearts as we wait, not only for Good Friday, but the Sunday that follows as well.