Put Your Hand in His
I’ve gotta keep this one short, but since I talked about music yesterday, one of my favorites growing up was “Put Your Hand in the Hand” and I still love to sing it. I’ll add more about this tomorrow, but for now, enjoy this image from multiple creation sources and a video from the original performers in 1971.
Just An Old Fashioned Love Song
I could blog for days on some of my favorite songs, both in hymns and secular music. It’s probably why I like the band, ApologetiX so much because that gives me hymns with the tunes of my secular faves. But for tonight, I want to talk about gathering with people who love The Lord and singing praises to Him. The greatest love is from God to us, so the greatest love songs should be from us to Him.
Now, when I hear the words “community hymn sing,” I’m pretty certain it’s going to be hymns sung by the whole community. I expect a “turn to page 1234” moment where we all pick up a song book and sing together. Of course, most have replaced the song books with overhead lyrics on beautiful backgrounds, but you get the idea. We all worship The Lord with good old-fashioned songs that tell of our love for Him.
But that’s not what happened when we attended the first one for our community. Instead, there were different groups playing and singing, no lyrics for the congregation, and me wondering whether it was okay to sing along. Did I enjoy it? Yes! It was all my kind of music, and most people wanted folks to sing with them. And despite not having the lyrics available, I was surprised at how many I knew by heart.
So, though both my husband and I would’ve preferred what we expected to find there, it does bring up something important. Why did I know so many of the lyrics even without them in front of my eyes? Because I’ve sung them to The Lord for so many years, they’ve become a part of me. This is what Proverbs is talking about when it says to “Train up a child in the way he should go.” It’s not a promised guarantee that a child raised to love and honor Christ will never depart, but if the practice is modeled before them and instilled in them, there’s an excellent chance that what’s been instilled will never depart. And that means, if the child grows up and grows distant from The Lord, there’s a well of memory within him or her which can be tapped into when they are ready.
I had my time of doing things my own way, but teachings and music from my own childhood were a well in me that I’ve tapped into many times since giving my whole life to Christ as a young woman. If you’ve got children, or grandchildren, or nieces and nephews (as was the case for me and my husband when we raised 4 nephews for 5 years), use every opportunity to put something into that well for them. One day, when they realize they’re running dry, what you’ve placed into them could save their soul. You’ll know it and be filled with joy when you hear them singing their own old fashioned love song to their Creator. I’m still hoping and praying for that day because I want all of us worshiping God together for eternity.
And, now, here’s one of my favorite songs from my time in Missionettes as a little girl. It’s called “Pass It On” and the lyrics can still make me cry.
Hand in Hand with God Almighty
Sometime in the past month, I read a quote that said something like, “God is more interested in what you do with Him than in what you do for Him.” I can’t find it again now to correctly attribute it, but those words say so much to my heart. I did find a similar quote by Malcom Smith that says, “While we are in a frenzy of doing for Him, we are in grave danger of missing the whole point of the Gospel – which is being with Him… He has many servants but few friends!”
In the short video I’ve shared above from The Bible Project (I love their videos and highly recommend them), the guys animate a lesson about partnering with God in this life. When I watched it as part of one of my studies, it made me think of that quote, and the whole message has been working in my spirit.
So many religions, and even non-religious ideologies that require good deeds, have leadership (or gods) that demand allegiance in word and deed but not in any sort of relationship. People do good (and even sometimes evil in the names of their gods) to get to their future reward. And they will pay any price because they think that reward must be earned. And it works for keeping people in line with the rules, but it’s too shallow for a life with a Creator who loves His creation so deeply that He actually left His glory to suffer in the flesh to make sure we can spend eternity with Him. He absolutely wants a partnership with each of us.
Another quote states it well by saying, “When you finally realize it isn’t about cutting off sin, it’s about loving God so much that your desires for sin no longer exist.” That kind of love will bring you all the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit and His Wonderful Presence. In Deuteronomy 4;7, Moses says, “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to Him?” (WEBUS) And if having that kind of close friendship and love with your Creator sounds good to you, memorize this promise from Jeremiah 29:13 (World English Bible/WEB)…
13 You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
And here’s an older beautiful hymn with lyrics to sing along; What A Friend We Have in Jesus…
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