Light

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O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

-O Love That Wilt not Let Me Go- by George Matheson

One of my favorite hymns, that seems to have a lot of parallelism with the Gospel of John. There is a reason the cover picture on my blog is of the Gospel of John. In my estimation, it is the richest and most symbolic of the four Gospels, and often runs on more than one level. In my project to find Who Jesus is for us, I have decided to devote 2-3 months and possibly 2-3 posts to the Gospel of John. Reading a particular line in the above hymn reminded me of a verse in John 1. "I yield my flickering torch to Thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray..."

Now, in John 1, there is a verse that has always puzzled me: "...That was the true Light, which ligheth every man that cometh into the world." Unlike most statements about or from Jesus Christ, this is not a totally exclusive word. He is that Light which lights every man. As I always understood it, the world is full of darkness, not a light that lights every man. A person is not "lit" until he knows the Father through the Son (John 17:3). But this verse says, "every man."

What if it is true that all men receive their light from Jesus? Colossians 1:16-17 tells us "...all things were created by him, and for him: ...And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." That line in the hymn uses interesting language: "My heart restores its borrowed ray." The way I see, everyone born into the world is made human with a soul and a spirit, or "lit,"  by the Son of God. Some light has been turned to darkness, but some are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, and in His sunshine's blaze, our rays are fairest and brightest. My study on the Gospel of John shall continue through May.