Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
The body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine--
And bathed in its own blood--
While the firm mark of wrath divine,
His sould in anguish stood.
Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut His glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creatures sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away
'Tis all that I can do.
At the Cross by Isaac Watts
It is Easter week . . . the holiest celebration in our calendar, and it is overrun by eggs, bunnies, & Reese's. I have thought about everything but my Sovereign Lord's death. Without His death, I'm all the lies that I fight daily to not believe. I am worthless, without value, unloved, sinful, lonely, etc, etc. But bkz of the pain that He chose to go through, all of these lies are just that . . . Lies from the pit of hell.
I've borrowed The Passion of the Christ from a friend to watch this week. It is disturbing, and I didn't buy it bkz I don't ever want to become complacent towards the movie. I remember watching it in the theater several years ago. I remember the emotional reaction that I had towards it as well as the emotional reactions of complete strangers in that theater. I remember a grown man sobbing as he watched the movie. I remember watching it with my roommate. Tears streamed down our faces, and yet we were silent in our own processing. We didn't speak for nearly an hour later.
I've become complacent to the gospel message, and I hate my complacency. It is the turning point, not only in history, but also in my own life. I love the line in this hymn above that talks about the "debt of love I owe." I remember when I asked the Lord how to love Him, He reminded me of what He did for me. I was so stuck in my pride, that I didn't even see my sin. So I'm praying that the Lord will again show me how to love Him, so that I can gratefully sing the refrain to Watt's hymn:
At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away, It was there by faith I received my sight & now I am happy all the day!
