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.
My Jesus, I Love Thee
By: William Ralph Featherston (1848–1875)
Listen to this simple piano arrangement as you read.
Over these next four weeks we will look into this timeless hymn, written in all likelihood by a 12-16 year, which examines several different moments in the life of the believer. In each of those “now” moments, we are encouraged to express our love to Jesus in a variety of ways. Let’s tune our hearts.
Fire
This hymn gives voice to the words in John 21 where Jesus reinstates Peter. As they finished their meal, Peter declares three times his love for Jesus. Peter had only days before denied Christ as he stood around another fire.
They shared some bread and fish together shortly after sunrise. Jesus drew Peter close and warmed his heart with the invitation to follow, again. How sweet those moments with the resurrected Christ must have been for them.
How often our love for Jesus has grown cold and He invites us again to follow. Not because we deserve it or have gotten our act together, but because He knows what is best for us, and that is it.
Jesus, I love you. Many times over these weeks we are going to examine different moments of our life. The “now” of each of those moments presents us with unique opportunities to demonstrate our love for Jesus. We declare in each of them with the hymn writer “if ever I loved You Jesus, it’s now.” May that become more true in our lives as we consider and determine our responses in each of those “nows”.
Mine
The first passage that comes to mind for me with the word mine is a very personal one. On the inside of my wedding band are the words, “I am my beloved’s”. It is referencing Song of Solomon 6:3a, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” I have not always lived that out well, but it has always been and will always be my intention to do so.
The same could be said of our commitment to Jesus. We have not always lived that out well, but it has always been our intention to do so. Why? Because it is the only appropriate response to Jesus giving Himself so selflessly to pay the penalty our sin deserved. He put it like this.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 (ESV)
Jesus has clearly and in dramatic fashion laid down his life for us. We know He has done this for the glory of God and for our good, both simultaneously, as an extravagant expression of love. One unlike any other other across all time and space. The kind of expression that demands a response.
Resign
“To Thee all the follies of sin I resign.” That is quite a response.
We use most of those words today, some 150 years after these were first penned, with the exception of one. Follies. Here that is meant to imply foolishness. So essentially we are committing to cease our involvement in the foolishness of sin. Sounds easy. But in practice, not so much.
We would agree with the writer and confess this is the right response to being delivered from the consequences of sin, yet we still struggle to refrain from engaging in its foolishness. While an entire book could be written on this struggle, and indeed it has been, consider this one line from it and the wisdom of its instruction.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 (ESV)
I think the danger is trying to be dead to sin, without actually spending the bulk of our attention on being alive to God. It’s the old negative versus positive conundrum. Allow me to illustrate.
When you yell to a child running down the hall, “Don’t run”, the last thing they hear is “run” and you are reinforcing the negative behavior. If instead you say “Walking feet”, you create a positive alternative and make clear the right behavior.
Though there is no simple formula to help you love Jesus more than sin, the next time you are faced with a temptation remind yourself of this conundrum, and ask the Holy Spirit to be that positive voice in your heart. As opposed to telling your self, “Don’t sin”, allow the Spirit to speak to your heart “Love Jesus”. I know it seems simple, but it has helped me to keep that commitment of love countless times, and I believe it can help you too. And we will keep providing resources like this to help you love Jesus, and become Resonant, 7 days a week.
Positive Tuning!
Jesus, I love you. I am so thankful you gave yourself as a sacrifice for my sin, delivering me from it’s folly. I commit to love You again today, and ask for Your help to do it. Holy Spirit, help me to resign to sin by focusing more on loving Jesus. In Jesus name. Amen.
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Video 9.1 Transcript
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
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.
When you know Jesus is for you, and what He has done to demonstrate that to you, the only appropriate response is to love Him. The One who made all things and is remaking them wants to save you. Tell Him you love Him.
Foolishness, that what follies are. Seems like a simple thing. Give up the foolishness of sin to fully embrace the wisdom of Christ’s love. But it is not as easy as it sounds. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any follies you have yet to resign.
The realization of the truths of the third line are what I believe empowers the worshipper to declare the other three lines. When we confess that He is the only One who can redeem us, purchasing us back from sin, saving us from the wrath of God, our worship begins. Declare He is your Savior and Redeemer.
The use of the word now to describe the immediacy of the worshippers love here is intriguing, especially since the hymn takes us to four distinct, different moments in our journey of love. This initial one seems to be those moments when we first determined to love Jesus. Recall your love for Jesus in those moments to kindle it again in these.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
Image Attributions
Fire on the Shore – https://pixabay.com/photos/sunset-water-dusk-outdoors-shore-3097772/
I Am My Beloved’s – https://pixabay.com/photos/wedding-rings-engagement-rings-3611277/
Don’t Run – https://giphy.com/gifs/ted-talk-vaJquoRYdcN0c
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