Altogether Lovely

Some thirty-seven or thirty-eight years ago when I was eight or nine years old (now you know how OLD I am) I recall going with my father to a tiny church in the mountains just outside Mena, Arkansas. There was a dear lady who sang a song that night during the worship service that pierced the very depths of my young soul. The song's title was (and still is) "The Longer I Serve Him The Sweeter He Grows" and the verses go something like this:

Since I started for the Kingdom, since my life He controls;

Since I gave my heart to Jesus, the longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.

The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows;

The more that I love Him more joy He bestows.

Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows;

The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.

The second verse:

Every need He is supplying, plenteous grace He bestows;

Every day my way gets brighter; the longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows.

For a young boy who was experienceing the first motions of God's grace in convicting me of my sin, this song was gripping. The young lady who sang (I don't even remember her name) did so with deep conviction, tears of joy and gratitude streaming down her face as she worshiped Jesus Christ. I distinctly remember thinking: "I want to know this Christ of whom she sings! How lovely He must be!"

Seven years later, on Thursday night, August 3, 1979, at approximately 8:00 P.M., I met Him face to face. On that night, after years of struggling trying to reform myself and live above sin by my own strength (and failing miserably) the Living God opened my eyes and I beheld Christ as the Lamb slain to take away my sin. In a mere moment the weighty burden I had born was rolled away as, with the eye of faith, I understood that Christ had born all my sins in His body on Golgotha's brow. In that moment Christ became inexpressibly lovely to me.

Now, thirty years after the life-altering event of that night, I better understand the reality that so moved the dear woman in the hills of Arkansas. Through all the ups and downs, all the starts and stops, all the trials and triumphs, one thing has remained constant for thirty years and counting--Christ has grown increasingly more precious to me. The longer I have served Him, the sweeter He has grown. The more I have loved Him more joy He has bestowed. Every need He has supplied, and plenteous, even overflowing grace is now the song of my life.

He is now, in every dimension of His Person and Work, Altogether Lovely to me.

My purpose for this blog is to glorify the One who took away my sins and reconciled me to God. I desire to communicate the sufficiency of Christ for every circumstance of this life. I want all who read these entries to understand that this Christ is the central figure of the whole of human history, and that He is the Omnipotent Friend who is intimately involved with those who belong to Him.

I will begin in my next entry to unfold the verse that I have chosen as the theme of this blog, Song of Solomon 5:16. May God grant me extraordinary eloquence to extol the glories of my dear Saviour.

A Debtor to Grace,

R. Cofield