TELL ME THE STORY OF JESUS

Sometimes when things are repeated to us so often they begin to lose their impact.  For example, as seniors mature they often tell the same stories to us, over and over again. And, while we continue to politely listen to them, our minds wander and the details become less interesting to us.  For those of us who have grown up in a Christian environment, could the same thing happen to us with the Gospel?  We have just concluded the Christmas story and most of us have heard this story over and over again, throughout our lives.  Does it still excite us and stir us like it did when we first heard it?  Does the Gospel message grip us as it used to?  Truly, as believers, we should never tire of the stories of Jesus.  We should long to hear them over and over and be continually thrilled by who He was, what He did and His love for each of us.  I imagine that was the desire of Fanny Crosby who penned the words in 1880. The music was added by John R. Sweney.  There really isn't a particular event that seems to have motivated the blind hymn writer to write these words.  It is known that she learned to play multiple musical instruments, write poetry, speak publicly, and organize missionary works in poverty-stricken urban areas in the U.S. We know that even among all the positives in her life, there were also many disappointments, including, in 1880, when Crosby had apparently separated from her husband, Alexander Van Alstyne.  That year she chose to live in a slum in Manhattan, apparently choosing this path as part of a recommitment to better serve the poor in domestic missionary work.   Living in a slum, helping the poor, she focused attention not on herself and what she could do, but instead on Him.  The words of this hymn sound like someone sharing the Gospel with the needy, despised and afflicted, who were without hope.  There's a chance that some of these poor folks were among the first to hear and appreciate her poem put to music. What's a group that's struggling to survive day-to-day looking for?  Someone who shares their pain, who also overcame, someone they could understand.  Now I have no idea if this is really what motivated the writing of this hymn, but we, too, need to have this story written on our hearts.  Maybe we need a new vision of who Jesus is.  As you review these words this week, ask the Lord to stir you, to renew you and to create a passion for sharing His story and His love to others.  May the sweetest story ever told impact your life daily.

(1)     Tell me the story of Jesus,

Write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious,

Sweetest that ever was heard.

Tell how the angels in chorus,

Sang as they welcomed His birth.

"Glory to God in the highest!

Peace and good tidings to earth."

Tell me the story of Jesus,

Write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious,

Sweetest that ever was heard.

(2)    Fasting alone in the desert,

Tell of the days that are past.

How for our sins He was tempted,

Yet was triumphant at last.

Tell of the years of His labor,

Tell of the sorrow He bore.

He was despised and afflicted,

Tell me the story of Jesus,

Write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious,

Sweetest that ever was heard.

(3)    Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,

Writhing in anguish and pain.

Tell of the grave where they laid Him,

Tell how He liveth again.

Love in that story so tender,

Clearer than ever I see.

Stay, let me weep while you whisper,

Love paid the ransom for me.

Tell me the story of Jesus,

Write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious,

Sweetest that ever was heard.

You can listen to this hymn here.    LISTEN