A Life Worthy

Tag: Be Thou My Vision

  • One-a-Day Friday 5/23/14

    number 1Today is a day to sing.

    Sing this hymn we’ve been talking about all week.  If you don’t know the tune, just say the words.  Make it your prayer today, Beloved.

     

    Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

    Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

    Thou, my best thought by day or by night

    Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light

     

    Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word

    I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord

    Thou my great Father; I thy true son

    Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one

     

    Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise

    Thou mine inheritance, now and always

    Thou and Thou only, first in my heart

    High King of Heaven my treasure Thou art

     

    High King of Heaven my victory won

    May I reach Heaven’s joy, O Bright Heaven’s Sun

    Heart of my own heart, whatever befall

    Still be my vision, O Ruler of all

     

  • One-a-Day Thursday 5/22/14

    number 1High King of Heaven my victory won

    May I reach Heaven’s joy, O Bright Heaven’s Sun

    Heart of my own heart, whatever befall

    Still be my vision, O Ruler of all

    Someday.

    Someday this will all be over.

    A memory.

    A blur.

    Someday the promises will be fulfilled and you will stand in the presence of the one who has always loved you.

    You will laugh

    and sing

    and weep

    and dance.

    Even I will dance, and nobody will laugh at me.

    Not even my kids.

    Until that day, we walk in the promise of what is to come.  Your Thursday may not look like glory, but the Lord of Glory is in it, waiting for you.

    Walk in the promise today, Beloved.

  • One-a-Day Wednesday 5/21/14

    number 1Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise

    Thou mine inheritance, now and always

    Thou and Thou only, first in my heart

    High King of Heaven my treasure Thou art

    I wish this were true of me.

    Oh, I don’t think I worship money—if you saw my car, you would know the truth of that.  But I must say I care a sight too much about, “Man’s empty praise.”

    I wish I didn’t.

    But I do.

    Now, you probably don’t have an unhealthy focus on money or peoples’ opinions of you.  You seem pretty put-together to me.  But just in case, it’s worth noting that this song gives us an answer to our dilemma.  See, it’s not enough to try not to think about money, or popularity, or whatever worldly thing you obsess over.  Look, I’ll prove it to you.  On the count of three, don’t think about money. Ready?  1…2…3…Go.

    See what I mean?

    We need to focus on what we do have, the amazing treasure we possess.  If you belong to Christ, you are heir to a colossal inheritance.  You are a child of the King of the Universe.  You have eternal life.  Best of all, you have a relationship with the One who hand-crafted you, who created and chose and loved you before you even knew his name.  Remind yourself of that, today and every day.  That just might help you keep your mind off the so-called riches of this lost world.

    He is your treasure.

    You are his.

    Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

  • One-a-Day Tuesday 5/20/14

    number 1Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word

    I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord

    Thou my great Father; I thy true son

    Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one

    Whence cometh thy wisdom, Beloved?

    Sorry…I got a little caught up in the whole Thee and Thou business.

    The question, however, is still valid—where do you get your wisdom?  Do you look to the world, with its political leaders and life coaches and self-help gurus?  Do you watch T.V., and adopt the attitudes and mores of the celebrity set?  Do you listen to the prevailing opinion of society, and claim it as wisdom?

    Because you know that the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God, right?

    Like the first verse of this hymn, this one asks God to do more than provide.  It asks him to be.  Be wisdom in me.  Be truth in me.  You see, wisdom and truth aren’t just tools that you can get from God and go off and use on your own, like some sort of spiritual ratchet set.

    Though I do find that concept intriguing…

    Wisdom and truth come from, and are used in, relationship with the Father.  As we grow closer to him, we grow closer to the source of all wisdom and all truth.  They sorta seep into us, like vitamin D when you’re out in the sun.  They become part of us.  Walking in wisdom and truth then becomes as natural as, well, as walking.

    I must admit, I still walk with two left feet and a bit of a stutter step, but I’m working on it.

    What about you, Beloved?  Are you spending enough time with your Father to soak in his wisdom, his truth?

    Make the time today.  I know you’re busy, but he’s worth it.

    So are you.

  • One-a-Day Monday 5/19/14

    number 1*note: This is a bit different from my normal One-a-Days.  For this week, I have chosen to focus on a hymn that has special meaning for me.  It may not be Scripture, but I think it has much to teach us about loving Christ.

    Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

    Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

    Thou, my best thought by day or by night

    Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light

    I love that it doesn’t say, “Validate the vision that I have for my own life.”

    Although that would be catchy.

    It doesn’t even say “Lord, grant me a vision for my life,” which is, frankly, about as good as I ever get.

    The song says, “Be my vision.”  I gotta admit, I’m not even entirely sure what that means, except that it speaks of total commitment.  The following lines press the thought:

    Nothing matters without you.

    Be the focus of my thoughts every day.

    Being with you is my reason for living.

    Oh, Beloved, can we ever reach that level of devotion this side of glory?

    I don’t know…but it’s what I want to want.

    It will be the song of my heart today.

    Will you sing with me?