More than 150 years ago, a young teenager wrote a beautiful poem. It was a personal tribute to his Savior. The poem became a powerful hymn of the church when music was written for it a few years …
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More than 150 years ago, a young teenager wrote a beautiful poem. It was a personal tribute to his Savior. The poem became a powerful hymn of the church when music was written for it a few years later. The teenager was William Featherston who died at the age of 27, a few years after writing the poem, and before it became recognized as a great hymn.
The poem/hymn is “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” Here is the first verse:
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.
There is some question about the original word in line two. Was it “follies” or “pleasures?” The song has been sung many times with both of those words. Certainly sin is folly, meaning “tragically foolish actions or conduct” or “a foolish act or idea.” If this was Featherston’s word choice, he could have been using a definition of folly which is now obsolete: “evil, wickedness, lewd behavior.”
Or the other word that is sometimes used in the song, can also project a strong message. “For Thee all the pleasures of sin I resign.” For many people there is some pleasure in sin. They are caught up in the pattern of the world and cannot see that the pleasure of serving God is greater than any the world can provide.
Moses made the choice to identify with Israel, God’s chosen people, rather than enjoy the “fleeting pleasures of sin.” (Heb. 11:25)
The pleasures of sin … the follies of sin … there is nothing in sin that has any value when compared to serving the blessed Savior.
“For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.” “For Thee all the pleasures of sin I resign.”
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
www.firstagcc.org. Write the Pastor at PastorBill@firstagcc.org.