Today there are so many things which grab our time and attention today - bills, children, sports, the internet, the stock market, vacations, houses, automobiles, technology, politics, hobbies, education, church activities, investments, housework, appointments, television shows - and so many more. Our schedules quickly get filled, our dailyu pace is hectic, and often we just get worn out trying to get through the day. And, unfortunately, what often gets neglected is our time alone with God. "Things" just get between us and Him. But that problem appears to have been the same for believers through the ages. Such was the experience of Charles A. Tindley, in 1906, when he penned the words of this week's hymn. Tindley's father was a slave, but his mother was free. Tindley himself was thus considered to be free, but even so he grew up among slaves. After the Civil War, he moved to Philadelphia. He continued his education while working as a church janitor, teaching himself Hebrew and Greek and eventually earning a doctorate. After 25 years he became the pastor of the same church at which he had been a janitor. Under his leadership, the church grew from 130 to a multiracial congregation with a membership of 12,000. Tindley inherited an overcrowded church that continued to grow quickly under his leadership. This hymn was written during a difficult time in Tindley's life, when the congregation was negotiating to purchase a larger facility. One day Tindley was in his study working on a sermon when a gust of wind blew some papers over top of his work. "Now, now," he thought to himself, "let nothing between." And the theme of this hymn suggested itself. The hymn text states that a full life in Christ would require sacrifice of "worldly pleasure" (stanza two) and that we should not be led astray by "this world's delusive dream" (stanza one). We should not let "pride or station... intervene" (stanza three) between "my soul and the Savior" (refrain). The fourth stanza affirms that "with prayer and much self-denial, I'll triumph at last." One can hear Tindley interpolating this hymn into his sermons, a common practice, as he pleaded for the sacrifice that it would take to purchase the property and build a new church building. The neighboring church was purchased, and Tindley called the new building "God's Cathedral." In 1924 the name was changed to Tindley Temple. So maybe this week we all need the reminder to "keep the way clear" and let nothing come between us and the Lord in our daily lives. Meditate on these words this week.
(1) Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
Naught of this world's delusive dream;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor;
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
(2) Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;
Habits of life, though harmless they seem,
Must not my heart from Him ever sever;
He is my all, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor;
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
(3) Nothing between, like pride or station;
Self or friends shall not intervene;
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I am resolved, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor;
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
(4) Nothing between, e'en many hard trials,
Though the whole world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self-denial,
I'll triumph at last, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor;
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
You can listen to this hymn here. LISTEN
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