Mezzamorphis

The last couple of weeks I’ve been listening to different music trying to come up with ideas for worship songs on Sunday mornings. One song that kept jumping out at me was a remake of “I Need Thee Every Hour” by Jars of Clay. The one verse that kept bringing me back to it was:

I need Thee every hour; stay Thou nearby
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh

This is such a powerful thought for me, and so true. When I am actively reading the Bible and making time to pray, the day-to-day temptations that are usually in my path don’t have the effect they might otherwise have. When I don’t have that closeness to God, those temptations seem to have more control over me.

One thing that the song doesn’t really say is that it really isn’t God’s job to keep close to us. He is an invited presence in our lives, our homes, our churches, and our world. It is our responsibility to make the effort to seek Him. We make the choice to remain close or to move away. God never moves.

I pray that tomorrow everyone at church can take these words to heart during worship and really let them sink in. One of the great things about old hymns is the language used is so elegant and powerful.