Sunday, November 23, 2003

Paul wrote, "We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers."
(1 Thessalonians 2.13 NRSV)

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Perhaps you recognize the name, Henry Francis Lyte. Lyte was an ordained minister, But he was a sad and burdened man. He was nearing the end of his ministry. He thought he had accomplished very little during his life and he was very disheartened, old, tired and infirm. The doctor told him he had only a few months to live. One evening in a dejected mood he started to thumb through his Bible and it fell open to one of his favorite passages.

As he read and re-read those familiar comforting words, all at once he was no longer old and tired. He no longer was sad and burdened, no longer discouraged. Words raced through his mind and he put them down on paper. In less than an hour, he wrote one of the most popular hymns of all time: "Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide; when other helpers fail, and comforts flee, help of the helpless, oh abide with me." Some of us know the comfort that Lyte found in that passage he read in the Bible. We are very, very blessed.

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Loving God, thank you for your words of life and hope. Remind me to read them often. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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