I have this running through my mind right now because of a story about Mellie.
When Mellie was little and we’d put her to bed we could usually hear her singing. This particular night, I could hear her singing loudly, “Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go….” I started to smile as I love that song and I was surprised that she knew the words. She sang through the verse and chorus and without seeming to take a breath moved on to “Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid….” I smiled again – another great song but then again there ARE so many great hymns. And then it hit me!
Do we say we will go anywhere but on the altar? I thought I’d better look at these songs!
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go, Anywhere He leads me in this world below; Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade; Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid.
Anywhere with Jesus I am not alone; Other friends may fail me, He is still my own; Though His hand may lead me over drearest ways, Anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise.
Do we sing this song on Sunday and just not pay attention to the words? Do we realize that our safety is found in Him? Do we understand that wherever HE leads us, we can go in peace knowing that He has something great in store for us? I think sometimes we sing the words and as they come out of our mouths they forget to reach back down into our hearts.
Anywhere with Jesus is an easy one to sing as we sit in our churches. We ARE there WITH Him. Can we go from singing “anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise” to singing about our all being on the altar? What does that entail?
Oh, we never can know What the Lord will bestow Of the blessings for which we have prayed, Till our body and soul He doth fully control, And our all on the altar is laid.
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? Your heart does the Spirit control? You can only be blest, And have peace and sweet rest, As you yield Him your body and soul.
This entails so much more than saying you WILL go anywhere with Jesus. Now we are being asked to lay our ALL on the altar. Laying your ALL means He is in control of our body AND soul. Our all means we have our heart resting in Him. This is hard for us as humans to do because we are “fixers”. We’ve got this. We can handle this. We can decide for ourselves what we will do. But look what is promised to us if we can give our all. He brings blessing, peace and sweet rest. He isn’t giving us riches or education. If we are given blessings, peace and sweet rest – isn’t this enough? Won’t everything else fall into place? Do we NEED riches? No, we NEED peace but yielding our ALL to Him will give us exactly what we NEED and it just might be He gives us the blessings far beyond our expectations. Isn’t that what Paul is telling us in Ephesians 3:20? “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”
So with Mellie I sing, “Anywhere with Jesus, with my all on the altar, I can safely go.” Can you sing with us? You can read this story again and find more encouraging words, here, in this book I wrote with my Grandfather.
