Hymns With A Message: WHEREVER HE LEADS I'LL GO

Sunday, March 12, 2017

WHEREVER HE LEADS I'LL GO

I often ask myself what I might have done if I had been involved in one of the stories shared in the Bible. For example, what would I have done if one day I was about my job of fishing and Jesus would have appeared and said "follow me". Would I have gladly given up my occupation and possessions to follow this teacher? It really must have taken faith to quickly do this. But if you are a believer who has spent years on this earth you have probably also often faced this challenge to follow His leading, not always knowing where it will go. And sometimes He not only opens doors but closes them as well. And have we always been willing to accept and follow His leading? After graduating from college and beginning a job teaching, my wife and I considered going to the Philippines to serve as missionary teachers there. We went through preliminary steps but then I was unexpectedly diagnosed with a physical problem and that door was suddenly closed. But instead the Lord opened another unexpected door and opportunity which we recognized as His leading and quickly followed. This choice led to several unusual ministry opportunities over many decades. Rev. R. S. Jones had a similar experience in 1936. He had recently returned from missionary service in Brazil and was the speaker at an Alabama Sunday School Convention. There he met an old friend, Baylus Benjamin McKinney, a musician and hymn writer, who was leading the music at the convention. As the two men visited and caught up over dinner, Mr. Jones revealed that his doctors would not allow him to return to South America due to his recent ill health. After a lifetime of serving God in Brazil, imagine how difficult this must have been for the missionary. "What will you do?" McKinney asked his friend. Jones answered, "I don't know, but wherever He leads I'll go." McKinney was unable to get his friend's words out of his mind. Before the convention session that evening, he had expanded his friend's words to write both the lyrics and melody to the hymn, "Wherever He Leads I'll Go." After Mr. McKinney shared the previous conversation with the congregation, he then premiered his new hymn as he began to sing, "Take up thy cross and follow me. I heard my Master say." Rev. Jones retired from a life of service in 1958, after serving as treasurer to the Foreign Mission Board for the last decade of his life. Mr. McKinney also lived out a life that followed the words of his famous hymn. When the Great Depression sent his seminary into a financial crisis, Mr. McKinney became the assistant pastor at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1952, he had just left a conference in NC and was headed for another engagement in TN. But on the way he was killed in a car accident. He left behind a legacy that included 149 hymns and gospel songs. The opening words of this hymn contain one of Jesus' most penetrating challenges to His disciples - a challenge so significant that it is found in each of the four gospels. Luke 9:23 states, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Have you willingly done this? Are you willing to follow Him wherever He leads? If you are, you will never be disappointed or alone.

1 "Take up thy cross and follow Me,"

I heard my Master say;

"I gave My life to ransom thee,

Surrender your all today."

Refrain:

Wherever He leads I'll go,

Wherever He leads I'll go;

I'll follow my Christ who loves me so,

Wherever He leads I'll go.

2 He drew me closer to His side,

I sought His will to know,

And in that will I now abide,