Thursday, July 7, 2022

“Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross”

But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14

This hymn was written by Fanny Crosby. Blinded at 6 weeks by a doctor who was a quack, she declares that her inability to see was intended by God’s providence. She said that if she was offered perfect sight, she would not accept it. For if she could see, she would be too distracted to have sung the hymns to praise God. Her mission was to share the message of the gospel through hymns for people who would not pick up the Bible and read it. She prayed over each hymn asking God to use them to lead souls to Him. She wrote over 8000 hymns.

I am so full as I write this devotional, for this is the song that my daddy sang each 2nd and 4th Sunday when he opened our church services. No music. Tattered hymnals. Little heat in the winter. No air conditioning in the summer. Many times, it was just Daddy and us singing this song. He sang, “Jesus, keep me near the cross. There a precious fountain, free to all, a healing stream, flows from Calvary’s Mountain. In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever; till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.”

In a time when there was little money and nothing to brag about, my dad taught us to brag about the cross. In the cross is a precious fountain that heals us all from our sin. In that cross, we have full confidence that we will obtain rest beyond the river. Lord, thank you for the cross. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for the cross.

PRAYER: Lord, I didn’t realize the power of this song when we sang it twice a month. Thank you for showing me. Let me never take these deep spiritual truths for granted. Let me get out of them everything you intend to give me. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen