Thanksgiving Thoughts 11.14.1

From Carolyn

Good Morning, Friends,

This morning I am especially thankful for three things: my hymn book, Alexa and my iPad. 

Every morning I look forward to my time of listening, reflecting and getting to open my heart to God, often after hearing His heart to me through the written Word and the Spirit. Today I was reading something written by a fellow pilgrim. Her thoughts triggered in my mind the words of an old hymn, Just As I Am. Of course I could not remember all the words so I reached for my hymnal (Yes, I have one!), checked the listing of the songs, and turned to the page I wanted. The message was even better than I remembered. (I am thankful that as a child I had the opportunity to hear the same hymns over and over and over so they stuck with me all these years. Truth down the ages.)

Then, I asked Alexa to play the hymn for me. With a bit of prompting, Alexa came up with a simple but clear version by Alan Jackson. I loved it and hope it will resonate all day in my mind. (I am sure there are other versions out there on YouTube. Just as I am thankful for old hymns I am also thankful for new inventions, especially the ones David has helped me figure out.)

After listening to the song, I reached for my iPad, found Wikipedia and read the fascinating story of the song’s author, Charlotte Elliot who wrote back in the 1800s. ( I am thankful that while the church is trying to figure out the best way to use women’s gifts, women’s gifts have always been used by our creative God.) Here is Charlotte’s hymn that God used to give me a thankful, joyful heart today:

JUST AS I AM

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

As I soaked a while in the truth conveyed in these words Charlotte Elliot penned so many years ago, and as I read her story, I realized that this song says as much about about the Lamb of God as it does about me. That fact is so important to me because if I fail to see His welcoming heart, opened to me by the “precious blood of the Lamb,” then I might think I have to clean up my act to come to Him. In truth His love has “broken down every barrier” and on that basis and promise I can “dare to draw near,” as Hebrews put it.

Also this song is not just for those who want to come for the first time, but for me. Each moment I am invited to come, even when I don’t feel His presence, even when I’m down...or up, even when I have become aware of a failure to love or to see another as He sees that one. In the joy of His help or in the “fightings and fears within, without,” Jesus invites me to come. It is He, the Lamb of God, who “will welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve!” My assurance is based on His shed blood and His promise. Not on my feelings or performance.

Now my thanksgivings are piled higher and higher as I remember I am welcomed and loved by this Lamb of God. The same Lamb who wept over the folks in Jerusalem when they would not come to Him. The same Lamb who was waiting with a beach breakfast prepared by nail pierced Hands, prepared for those disciples who had all run away in times of extreme fear. The same Lamb who is waiting and who knocks on the door of every heart, even mine when I have “forgotten my first love.”

O Lamb of God, how I thank You for this welcoming invitation. Your heart is an open heart, waiting and wanting each of us to get to know You better. To taste and see that You are good. Our task is to come.  You are the One who transforms as we linger in Your presence. Thank You Lamb of God for making a way for us, Jesus, in Whose Name we do come.
With a song in my most thankful heart,

Carolyn