HAVE not my readers sometimes joined in the hymn—
“My heart is fixed, eternal God—
Fixed on Thee;
And my immortal choice is made—
Christ for me?”
But has it been truthfully sung? Have the words “Christ for me” sounded forth out of joyful lip? Or have they been sung by lips that have never really confessed Christ as Saviour?
I will tell you of one to whom this hymn is now indeed true. It was a bright, frosty night, the last Sunday in December. Several young girls had been to a Gospel service, and were walking home together afterwards. We all felt what a solemn occasion it had been—perhaps the last time any of us would hear the Gospel preached in our lives, and certainly the last time in that year. So we had a talk about coming to Jesus, and about being able to say, “Christ for me.” One of our number asked all there, who could not say it truthfully, to come to Jesus, — just then, and just as they were.
God sent that appeal home to the heart of Alice, a girl of about eighteen years of age, who had never really confessed Christ as her Saviour before, but who had been long interested in hearing of Him.
“Can you truly sing ‘Christ for me,’ Alice?” asked her Christian friend.
For a moment or two there was no answer; and then Alice said, “Yes, I can sing ‘Christ for me’ tonight.”
Happy girl, she could now sing, with Solomon of old, “I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine.” Cant. 6:3.
Dear reader, if you cannot say truthfully, “Christ for me,” you have no certain joy or peace in the present, and only eternal woe, wretchedness, and misery, in the future. How can you refuse the friendship of such a Friend, and the saving power of such a Saviour?
Jesus will receive you now. God tells us through His inspired word, “Behold, now is the accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2). He will receive you, whoever you are, for we read in Rev. 22:17,17And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17) “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely;” and when you have drunk of the life-giving stream, you too will be able to sing with Alice, “Christ for me.”
ML 02/19/1922