Born in London in 1816, John Ernest Bode was educated at both Eton and Charterhouse, as well as Christ Church, Oxford University. Bode served as an Anglican vicar at Westwell, Oxfordshire and Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire. This hymn has its origins in the confirmation of Bode’s daughter and two sons in 1866. It was published two years later as a leaflet by SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) entitled “Hymn for the newly Confirmed” and later in the New Appendix to the New and Enlarged Edition of Hymns for Public Worship (1870), Church Hymns and Tunes (1874), and Hymns Ancient and Modern (1875). The text is based on John 12:23-26 and Jesus’ words that those who love their life will lose it, and in losing it will have eternal life¹.

O Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end;
Be thou forever near me,
My Master and my friend;
I shall not fear the battle
If thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
If thou wilt be my guide.

O let me feel thee near me!
The world is ever near:
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw thou nearer,
And shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will.
O speak to reassure me,
To hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen,
Thou guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, thou hast promised
To all who follow thee,
That where thou art in glory
There shall thy servant be.
And, Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
My Master and my friend.

¹umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-o-jesus-i-have-promised

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Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879) was an unusually gifted and passionate saint. The daughter of a church rector, she was raised in Worcester, England and attended schools in England and Germany. In her love of learning, she grew to become an able scholar, and a talented singer and pianist. She expended the majority of her life’s labours in writing prose and poetry that would be spiritually beneficial to the saints. Havergal suffered poor health and was taken by the Lord at just 42 years of age. But the Lord prospered her ministry. In her own words, the hymn is a “consecration hymn” in which the singer commits all of her possessions and being to the Lord for his purposes. It expresses what each of us ought to feel and long for, even if at times we see so much disparity between the words and our actual state that we have to sing most of it in hope and faith¹.

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.

¹challies.com/articles/hymn-stories-take-my-life-and-let-it-be/

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I love this song written by Jeff Bourque from Grace Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee (not to be confused with Grace Community Church, California!), and I’m sure you will too!

May we run this race, may we keep the faith,
May our eyes be fixed on Jesus,
That we’ll not lose heart in our struggle with sin
And through suffering know endurance.

May we arm ourselves with the mind of Christ,
To rejoice in trials and be not surprised.
May our hearts be so consumed by You
That we never cease to praise!

May our company be the saints You’ve called
May we all stand firm in One Spirit,
That the gospel’s truth may resound on earth
That all living things may hear it.

May the fruits of faith mark the path we trod
Through the life of Christ to the glory of God.
May our hearts be so consumed by You
That we never cease to praise!

May the words we share be Your grace and peace
May our tongues speak Your proclamations,
That the many parts of the Body of Christ
Be affirmed in their right relation.

As we long and wait for our Groom to come
May we learn to love and spur each other on.
May our hearts be so consumed by You
That we never cease to praise!

When that day arrives, and the race is won,
When our griefs give way to deliverance.
We will fully know as we’re fully known,
All our groans will end as new songs begin.

And a multitude from every tribe and tongue,
Wearing robes of white
Will stand before Your throne
And our hearts will be so consumed by You
That we’ll never cease to praise!
May our hearts be so consumed by You
That we never cease to praise!

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I came across this hymn when looking for hymns related to Proverbs 9, and the personification of Wisdom and Folly.This hymn by Charles Wesley appeared in Hymns for those that seek and those that have Redemption, 1747. It tells of the joys that are had for those who gain wisdom, and ultimately gain Christ.

Happy the man who finds the grace,
The blessing of God’s chosen race,
The wisdom coming from above,
The faith that sweetly works by love.

Wisdom divine! who tells the price
Of wisdom’s costly merchandise?
Wisdom to silver we prefer,
And gold is dross compared to her.

Her hands are filled with length of days,
True riches, and immortal praise,
Riches of Christ on all bestowed,
And honour that descends from God.

To purest joys she all invites,
Chaste, holy, spiritual delights;
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her flowery paths are peace.

Happy the man who wisdom gains;
Thrice happy, who his guest retains;
He owns, and shall for ever own,
Wisdom, and Christ, and heaven, are one.

This hymn is a simple confession of the true believer’s desire and aim in life: to live for God, rely on his grace, and look forward to meeting him again. Enjoy!

This life I live is not my own,
For my redeemer paid the price;
He took it to be his alone,
To be his treasure and his prize.
The things of earth I leave behind,
To live in worship of my King;
His is the right to rule my life,
Mine is the joy to live for him.

I died to sin upon the cross,
I’m bound to Jesus in his death;
The old is gone, and now I must,
Rely on him for every breath.
With every footstep that I tread,
What mysteries he has in store;
I cannot know what lies ahead,
But know that he has gone before.

There is a voice that pierced the grave,
A power that rolled the stone away;
A sound of life, I know I’m saved,
The voice of God has called my name.
So I will rise, and in the air,
Behold the glory of the King;
I will not fear to meet him there,
I know my life is hid with him.

This hymn I found whilst reading hymnals online, and it comes to us from British layman William Dunn Longstaff (1822-1894). Longstaff befriended a number of well-known evangelists such as William Booth (1829-1912), founder of the Salvation Army. Some of Longstaff’s hymns were published in the official magazine of the Salvation Army magazine, The War Cry, during the 1880s. In 1873 the famous American preacher Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) and his chief musician Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908) arrived in England and were desperately seeking funds, and Longstaff came to their rescue, helping to establish a donor base that allowed Moody to hold revivals in London and Scotland. Methodist hymnologist Robert Guy McCutchan notes that Longstaff was inspired by the words of Griffith John, a missionary to China, who cited I Peter 1:16, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (KJV), a reference to Leviticus 11:44¹. I do not have a song for this hymn to share, but you will be blessed to turn the words into your prayer for today.

Take time to be holy,
Speak oft’ with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always,
And feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children
Help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing
His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy
The world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret
With Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus,
Like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct
His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy,
Let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him,
Whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow,
Still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus,
Still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy,
Be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive
Beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit
To fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted
For service above.

¹umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-take-time-to-be-holy