As an author and wordsmith, i take the topic of words very seriously. Yesterday’s sermon, well-delivered by Jerry Klemm at Covenant Church, we visited Proverbs and the extensive time Solomon gave to the topic of words, their impact, their importance, and our spiritual authenticity in choosing to use words carefully.
At the end of the service we sang a hymn I hadn’t sung in years, but memorized as a child. I was thrilled to know I didn’t need prompting to remember not only the meaning, but each phrase, each word, and in contemplation since, I see so much relevance to the times we are experiencing right now. Daily we are bombarded by commentators, not news reporters, who seek to deceive, to propagandize, to deceive, to drill down on opinion rather than fact, and seek to outdo each other in outrageous claims demeaning to others people with whom they disagree. They are tearing our nation apart. There is little dialogue, and mere changing of channels produces more diatribes and innuendos. Add to that government-speak which further foments controversy and the hiding of truth behind words which convey little truth, and our heads spin with the input.
It is not without notice that the Bible speaks of the Word with a capital letter W. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Jesus is that Word. The truth is that God loved this world enough to send a redeemer to take us above the fray and straight to the Creator of the universe who is sovereign over all and Who takes us to eternal truth. There will always be controversy when man’s mind thinks he knows it all and is always right. But the arbiter of all truth, and the One who can let the gibberish slide from our memory can replace the cacophony or manspeak with His own abiding truth. Here, then are the words composed in 1874 by Frances Ridley Havergal in the hymn “Take My Life, and Let It Be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.”
Perhaps you learned it as a child, as I did. If not, ponder these words today and let’s together fight off the din that can raise our blood pressure and cause dissent and disgust. Let our words be blessings, potions of comfort, and soothing to the soul.
Source: Hymnary. org. Public Domain. You may read her biography there. She is the composer of over fifty hymns where she said that once she knew Jesus, the world was a brighter, more wonderful place. May her words inspire us today as we think about them:
1 Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
2 Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee,
swift and beautiful for thee.
3 Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee,
filled with messages from thee.
4 Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose,
every power as thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.
6 Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.
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