First Baptist Asheville Youth

Come, Thou Fount

Remember:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

Read: Romans 8: 35-39

Reflect: Can you remember a time when you were a little kid and got lost from your parents? Where was it? How long did it take you to find them or them to find you? Have you ever been watching or babysitting a child and in a split second they were gone and you couldn’t find them? Can you recall that sense of panic?

Consider: It is not a fun feeling to be separated from safety. A child panics when suddenly they can’t find the adult who is their caregiver. A rock climber knows there’s trouble when the safety rope suddenly goes limp. A skydiver always has one hand on the parachute.

The song, Come Thou Fount reminds us that we are all “prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love.” The curious, explorative nature of a two-year old is something we never lose. We all want to see fresh places, be around different kind of people, do new things. This sense of adventure is a gift from God and is a wonderful part of being fully human. Unfortunately, sometimes such experimentation can result in unhealthy consequences. The thrill of seeking something new or out of the ordinary can lead us to mess up pretty badly. The pursuit of fresh excitement can take us further away from the safety of old reliable friends, habits and values.

It’s a great thing to know that when this happens the fount of God’s love still flows to us. A very true bumper sticker says, “If you don’t feel as close to God as you once did...guess who moved!” God is always there for us, constant and unchanging. As the text from Romans says, no force from the outside can separate us from His love.

As the experience of this trip comes to an end, let’s all be honest. Although there is great meaning and contentment in being a follower of Jesus, sometimes it is hard. Sometimes it is not very exciting. Sometimes the routine of praying, going to church, reading the Bible, or trying to do the right thing seems boring. This trip has probably been a high point for many of us in our Christian journey, but life back at school, college or work will not have the same “bada-bing” as a trip to Europe. We will all be prone to wander away from church or personal time with or service to God.

Pray: Let us all pray that we will remain faithfully close to Jesus and to one another. Let us seek to make the world more full of God’s love and joy. In doing this, may we each find the profound and abiding peace of Christ.

# posted by Tracey Jenkins @ 9:00 AM