Hymn Scripture Challenge with Patter Cross - #13 - O For a Thousand Tongues

This fortnight Patter has given us a lovely old hymn written by Charles Wesley.  I think this hymn will always bring to my mind when we worshiped with Liberty Community Church as so many times when there was an open time for anyone to suggest a hymn or song to sing, this one man - John would so very often ask for this hymn as it was his favourites.  John is still a close friend to my husband even though we no longer worship at the same church.

The verse from the hymn tha  I chose to share on my digital piece stood out to me as this week I received the following daily devotion:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV)

A word of admonition to us all: don’t be a “wannabe” theologian! Paul was straightforward with the church in Corinth. He didn’t use philosophically charged speech or yammer on endlessly, he cut straight to the source of life, Jesus. As Christians, we should be all about Him. We should wake up with a craving to be like Jesus everyday, we should long to walk as He walked. But how exactly did He walk?

Great question.

He walked through mobs of people shouting, spitting, and jeering at Him while carrying a cross. That’s how Jesus walked, that’s how Jesus lived. He allowed Himself to be humiliated, mocked, and ridiculed all for our good. Paul realized a simple yet powerful truth: when we know Jesus, our pride should evaporate. There is no room for arrogance when you’ve met Jesus. Paul didn’t need to use impressive words or flex his vocabulary, he needed to proclaim nothing but “Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

This mindset can work in us in two different ways:

• Firstly, if we’re constantly looking to impress others with our knowledge or holiness, we’ve completely missed our purpose. The point is not us, it’s Jesus.
• Secondly, we’ve also missed it if we neglect sharing Jesus with others because we’re worried that we don’t know enough. If we do this, we’ve also missed the heart of the matter. Again, the point is not us, it’s Jesus!

Get to know Jesus, get excited about Him. The point of our lives is to point to Him.

So with the words of the hymns and the thought that I myself, need to proclaim Jesus to the world the scripture that stood out to me is Psalm 35:28.

The digital kit I used is Madness is Divine by Creative Victorian Designs