"My Jesus, I Love Thee" v. 1
My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
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"My Jesus, I Love Thee" by Author: William R. Featherstone (1864)
1. My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;
for thee all the follies of sin I resign;
my gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
2. I love thee because thou hast first loved me
and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
3. I'll love thee in life, I will love thee in death,
and praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath,
and say when the deathdew lies cold on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
4. In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
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I have never chosen this hymn for congregational worship. Its language is out of date and it's too sentimental. But it holds a special place in my heart because it was one of my mother's "alarm clock" songs. If she felt my sisters and I had slept long enough, we'd often hear her strong voice singing us awake. A frequent choice was this old hymn. I think back on what she was doing as she sang—household chores, work brought home from her office, preparing a Bible study to teach. Certainly none of it was glamorous. None of it is noted in Wikipedia. No big Elijah moments. Just the small ones. Yet it perfectly expressed our mother's faith. She did not expect to find God in only the things that are perfect. Nor did she turn to God only in times of need. In the everyday act of getting stubborn children awake she could sing, "If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now."
God of our sustenance, help me to love Jesus, even in the midst of the small things. Amen.
Bryan Woken
Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, West Hills, Calif.
Master of Divinity , 1984
____________________________
I have never chosen this hymn for congregational worship. Its language is out of date and it's too sentimental. But it holds a special place in my heart because it was one of my mother's "alarm clock" songs. If she felt my sisters and I had slept long enough, we'd often hear her strong voice singing us awake. A frequent choice was this old hymn. I think back on what she was doing as she sang—household chores, work brought home from her office, preparing a Bible study to teach. Certainly none of it was glamorous. None of it is noted in Wikipedia. No big Elijah moments. Just the small ones. Yet it perfectly expressed our mother's faith. She did not expect to find God in only the things that are perfect. Nor did she turn to God only in times of need. In the everyday act of getting stubborn children awake she could sing, "If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now."
God of our sustenance, help me to love Jesus, even in the midst of the small things. Amen.
Bryan Woken
Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, West Hills, Calif.
Master of Divinity , 1984
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