For God Alone: More of Thee. Less of Me.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)
When Jesus spoke these words to the Pharisee, he was quoting the Shema as found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Every Hebrew father taught his children this bedrock verse from the Talmud. With His reply to the Pharisee’s question, Jesus confirmed that this principle, this maxim, remains at the very foundation for those who would follow Him as His disciple.
James, the apostle, reminded us to …
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)
In the Preface to his book, A Passion for God,* Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr. writes: “To commune with God by faith in deep personal fellowship is the highest fulfillment one can experience. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and I want more.”
Years ago, I traveled to Dublin, Ireland a few days before a scheduled mission effort, that I might spend time alone with God in a city that was altogether new to me. The trip was at the end of a particularly stressful year of ministry, and my body and spirit were weary, and needed some quiet rest. To my delight, there was a beautiful park across the street from my hotel, and that park became my sanctuary for days of quiet repose and meditation. During my daily walks, I read and meditated on Scriptures, and recited this simple mantra over and again:
More of Thee. Less of me.
Nineteenth-century American hymn and gospel song writer, Fanny Crosby, put it this way:
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice
And it told Thy love to me.
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious bleeding side.
Consecrate me, now, to Thy service, Lord
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope
And my will be lost in Thine.
Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,
I commune as friend with Friend.
There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach,
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
Draw Me Nearer, 1875
Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915
(As a child, I was blest to learn this hymn - and many others - in two languages, Spanish and English. When a person learns more than one language (I speak three: English, Spanish, and Music), he or she values communication on a whole different level. I remain grateful to God for missionary-parents whose obedience granted this pilgrim the gift of knowing and valuing a language and culture other than the one into which I was born.)
Presbyterian minister and theologian, Cleland Boyd McAfee (1866-1944) wrote the words and tune to the beloved hymn, Near to the Heart of God (1903).
There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God;
A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God,
Hold us who wait before Thee, near to the heart of God.
There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God;
A place where we our Savior meet, near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God,
Hold us who wait before Thee, near to the heart of God.
There is a place of full release, near to the heart of God;
A place where we our Savior meet, near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God,
Hold us who wait before Thee, near to the heart of God.
Near to the Heart of God
“O Lord, you make a profound and searching distinction between natural morality and authentic spirituality. A veneer of correctness would only conceal my corruption within and utterly fail to touch the root of my sinfulness. Your gospel, O Lord, is not just another human religion. It is new and full of hope, because it replaces the best that I can do with the best that you can do. Dear and blessed Savior, I look up to you now with open-hearted faith and hope and desire. Let me draw strength from you right now. Make me a living example of authentic Christianity today, I pray. In the holy name of Christ. Amen.”
A Passion for God, p. 109
(Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)
*A Passion for God, Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., Crossway Books, 1994
© 2020, Paul R. Magyar, DMA
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