I've had a song on my mind recently, and then amazingly enough, last weekend at my MIL's church, this very song was played for the offertory. I think God's trying to get my attention. Written in 1882 by William D. Longstaff after hearing a sermon on I Peter 1:16 ("Be holy, because I am holy"), it has a beautiful message.How easily I get caught up in wanting the end results of holiness without putting in the time to develop it. Living in our instantaneous, microwaveable, drive-through society, it is hard to discipline myself to "Be still and know that I AM God." Yet holiness is not something I can order off the internet or snap my fingers like Mary Poppins and have it happen. May I quiet my heart and my busy-ness and take time to be holy. Ponder the beautiful words with me:
TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY 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.
WORDS: William D. Longstaff, 1882
MUSIC: George C. Stebbins,
I couldn't find a version of the entire song that I liked, but here's a college choir singing a beautiful rendition of the last verse.
Find more songs to bless your weekend at Amy's!
I love the reminder "Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
ReplyDeleteAnd run not before Him, whatever betide."
It's really hard sometimes to wait until you're sure what His plan is.
Beautiful words, thanks for sharing them ~
ReplyDelete*snort* "our instantaneous, microwaveable, drive-through society"...aptly put, Linda.
ReplyDeleteThis song is a beautiful reminder of how we should live as well rounded Christians. Spend time in the Word, praying and framing our motives with those two core behaviors as the background.
Xandra
A very good reminder to us - be holy as I AM holy!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this song!
Have a blessed weekend!
Jill
This is such a beautiful song.
ReplyDeleteYour underlined verse Be still and know....jumped out at me. This was Caleb's memory verse. We've been singing that song this week.
What a beautiful song. So many words that we should be living by. Thank you for sharing, I had not heard it before.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful! Living words... to feed on His Word and abide in Him! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! I can't believe my baby will be 1 in less than 3 months!
ReplyDeleteI love the words to this song! Thanks for sharing!
We would all do well to remember to take time to be holy. Beautiful old hymn.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome reminder. I love to here choirs sing. Very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI remember this one. You sure do bring back the memories. And thank you, dear friend, for such sweet words about the 'do. I just edited the post to say I've embarrassed myself by appearing to have been fishing for compliiments. The truth is, I had nothing else to post. I'm dryin' up! But thanks. You are too kind.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Linda, and such a good reminder. As you know (!) from my own recent blog post, I'm trying to make my life less frenetic and more in tune to "listening with the ear of my heart." Interestingly, my current WIP (the sequel to CRITICAL CARE) has Psalm 46:10 as its basis. My nurse heroine (often venting her frustrations via a punching bag) very much needs to learn to "Be still, and know that I am God."
ReplyDeleteI can relate to her struggle.
Love that song too! And the words - Priceless!
ReplyDelete