JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE

          Happy New Year!  As we begin 2017 today, I find it so hard to believe that another year has passed by so quickly.  Maybe that is a sign of getting old.  Many families have traditions for New Year's Day celebrations.  I look forward to the day because our extended family traditionally meets together to enjoy pork and sauerkraut . I guess that may be a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition.  But a new year brings new opportunities, new challenges and maybe even a chance to start over.  There is the tradition of making new resolutions for the new year.  These often include goals to lose weight, exercise more, complete some project or do some good deeds.  But most resolutions are soon forgotten as the weeks go by.  But what about making some spiritual resolutions and asking the Lord to help you meet them?  A great one might be to experience a closer walk with the Lord during the coming year.  And a good reminder of that might be the song that I have chosen for this blog to start the new year, "Just a Closer Walk With Thee".  It is interesting since the precise author of this popular song is unknown.  Some evidence strongly suggests that it dates back to southern African-America churches of the nineteenth century, possibly even prior to the Civil War.  Some African American histories recall slaves singing a song about walking by the Lord's side as they worked in the fields.  But as is true for numerous hymns, knowing where it came from, while interesting, is not as important as the message of the hymn itself.  The anonymous composer expresses feeling "weak" living in a world of "wrong", a world of toils and snares with no human to share one's burdens.  I imagine at various times most of us could echo those thoughts.  The only way to be "satisfied" is by invoking Jesus who is "strong" and by walking closely beside Him. It is the daily close walk with Christ that leads one to become more Christlike.   The composer asks two rhetorical questions. "If I falter, Lord, who cares?" and "Who with me my burden bears?"  The response to both is "None but Thee".  As is the case with many hymns, the final verse talks about heaven, with the prayer "guide me gently, safely o'er to thy shore."  James 4:8, "Come near to God and he will come near to you."  May 2017 be a year that each of us draw nearer to God and experience a closer walk with the Lord. "Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, daily walking close to Thee, let it be, dear Lord, let it be."

1.      I am weak, but Thou art strong,

Jesus, keep me from all wrong,

I'll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

2.      Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

3.       When my feeble life is o'er,

Time for me will be no more,

Guide me gently, safely o'er

To Thy kingdom's shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Listen to it here.   LISTEN