IS YOUR ALL ON THE ALTAR?

You have longed for sweet peace,

And for faith to increase,

And have earnestly, fervently prayed;

But you cannot have rest,

Or be perfectly blest,

Until all on the altar is laid.

 

Refrain:

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

Your heart does the Spirit control?

You can only be blest,

And have peace and sweet rest,

As you yield Him your body and soul.

 

Would you walk with the Lord,

In the light of His word,

And have peace and contentment alway?

You must do His sweet will,

To be free from all ill,

On the altar your all you must lay.

 

Oh, we never can know

What the Lord will bestow

Of the blessings for which we have prayed,

Till our body and soul

He doth fully control,

And our all on the altar is laid.

 

Who can tell all the love

He will send from above,

And how happy our hearts will be made;

Of the fellowship sweet

We shall share at His feet,

When our all on the altar is laid.

 

-- Elisha A. Hoffman, 1900

AVOIDING HEAD-ON COLLISIONS

Driving down a country road, I came to a very narrow bridge.  In front of the bridge, a sign was posted: "YIELD".  Seeing no oncoming cars, I continued across the bridge to my destination.

On my way back, I came to the same one-lane bridge, now from the other direction.  To my surprise, I saw another "YIELD" sign posted. "Curious," I thought, "I'm sure there was one positioned on the other side."

When I reached the other side of the bridge, I looked back. Sure enough, yield signs had been placed at both sides of the bridge.  Drivers from both directions were requested to give the other the right of way.  It was a reasonable and gracious way of preventing a head-on collision.

When the Bible commands Christians to "be subject to one another" (Ephesians 5:21) it is simply a reasonable and gracious command to let the other have the right of way and avoid interpersonal head-on collisions.

-- Stephen P. Beck


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