Dear Wandering Heart:
You didn’t think it could happen to you, did ya? I don’t think anyone ever thinks that. But it does, and it did. Now stand back and take a good long look at yourself. Oh Wandering Heart, what happened? You have changed and not for the good. Look around, where are you? Are you now so blind that you can’t see that you are in great danger? Come back wandering heart; come back to the straight and narrow and quickly put your gaze back in focus.
What was it? Was it the slow and subtle approach and before you knew it your heart was no longer where it needed to be, and your desires seem to have changed before your very eyes. Then, in the blink of an eye you were lost.
What was it that caught your attention; which lie was it? Was the first baby step “I don’t need to read my Bible, but I pray” lie, or was it the “I don’t need to go to church because church is in my heart lie.
Wandering Heart, was it the “they know I’m a Christian so no words necessary lie” that caused you to veer off in the wrong direction? Your heart always “looked” different than theirs did, but now, look at yourself in the mirror and see what you’re becoming… Your heart appears to be just like theirs now.
Oh Wandering Heart, look up and cry out to our Lord Jesus, the one that suffered and died; the one who paid your penalty for sin and drew you to Himself. He loves you Wandering Heart. Look for that narrow path while it may be found.
Yell if I must…. come back and always be on guard! It didn’t happen overnight, it was a subtle decline until the lies had you tightly in its grip. Pay attention Wandering Heart, turn now and come back…
Sadly, many of us know of those who have believed the lies of the world and have wandered; inch by inch believing one little lie after another. When I picture someone wandering, I think of it as one step at a time, slowly turning away from the cross and looking to the world.
My analogy would look something like this…Several years ago I was walking on the sidewalk with, my then, two year old. We would go for walks and he enjoyed walking just in front of me on the sidewalk. Playfully, at one point, he decided to take off running further ahead than normal. He laughingly looked back at me, which also caused his little body to start heading to the left, towards the small patch of grass that lies between the sidewalk and the road, which had a dangerous car coming. I screamed “Stop”! The car stopped and thankfully my son stopped as well! My point is that it only took a slight shift of his gaze for his feet to start going in the wrong direction
There’s was a man named Robert Robinson who wrote the hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. Robert Robinson’s dad died when he was a young child and he was left without any guidance. He became friends with those who were a bad influence on him and he lived a sinful life. At one point, he encountered a fortune teller who told him that he would live to see his children and grandchildren. This caused him to want to change his ways. So, he went to a Methodist church where George Whitefield was preaching on Matthew 3:7 that says “…you brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Robert continued in deep sin for 3 more years. It was when he turned 20 that he surrendered his heart to God. In his joy, two years later, in 1757, he wrote the hymn, and in the hymn he was very aware of the mercy of God, yet towards the end of the hymn, he showed that he was also aware of his temptations and struggles. He was aware that it was possible that he could wander away from the Lord. He says
“Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
That’s all of us, any of us could wander. So, I leave you with this:
If you see a wanderer… go after them in love:
If you are the one prone to wander, like myself, safeguard yourself:
Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
Robert Robinson
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.
So good. Lea thanks for sharing. We would all benefit from this read. I’ve been there, got the T-shirt, the video and the scars.
Thank you Bill
Another part of the Robert Robinson story I heard once (but haven’t been able to corroborate), was that, after writing the hymn, he backslid for a number of years. Then one day, being destitute and walking out on some rural road in the rain, a carriage stopped to offer him a ride. He began to tell his story and the man said he had a hymn that he should read. He showed him Come Thou Fount, which he had written years before. He rededicated his life to the Lord and eventually became a pastor himself.
Hi John! Thank you, Lea, thought provoking words. Robinson was a preacher but abandoned sound doctrine for years until his death. True words in his last verse. God uses anyone he wishes for his purpose!
Patty P