July 25 2017
For today’s devotion, I
will be reading -
Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the
Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked
forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the
Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly
pardon.
The story is told that
Robert Robinson one Sunday morning in 18th century London, was walking along the street, where were people were hurrying to church, but
Robinson was a lonely man.
The sound of church bells
reminded him of years past when his faith in God was strong and the church was
an integral part of his life.
It had been years since he
set foot in a church -- years of wandering, disillusionment, and gradual
withdrawal from the God he once loved.
That love for God -- once
fiery and passionate -- had slowly burned out within him, leaving him dark and
cold inside.
Robinson heard a horse-drawn cab approaching behind him.
He turned, and lifted his
hand to hail the driver. But then he saw that the cab was occupied by a young
woman dressed for the Lord’s Day. He waved the driver on, but the woman in the
carriage ordered the carriage to be stopped.
"Sir, I’d be happy to
share this carriage with you," she said to Robinson. "Are you going
to church?" Robinson was about to decline, then he paused.
"Yes," he said at last. "I am going to church." He stepped
into the carriage and sat down beside the young woman.
As the carriage proceeded forward Robert Robinson and the woman exchanged introductions.
There was a flash of
recognition in her eyes when he stated his name. "That’s an interesting
coincidence," she said, reaching into her purse. She withdrew a small book
of inspirational verses, and opened it to where she had a ribbon bookmarked on
a verse, and handed the book to him. "I was just reading a verse by a poet
named Robert Robinson. Could it be…?"
He took the book, nodding.
"Yes, I wrote these words years ago." "Oh, how wonderful!"
she exclaimed. "Imagine! I’m sharing a carriage with the author of these
very lines!"
But Robinson barely heard
her. He was absorbed in the words he was reading. They were words that would one
day be set to music and become a great hymn of the faith, familiar to
generations of Christians:
Come, Thou Fount of every
blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy
grace’
Streams of mercy, never
ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest
praise.
His eyes slipped to the
bottom of the page where he read:
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.
He could barely read the
last few lines through the tears that brimmed in his eyes. "I wrote these
words—and I’ve lived these words. ’Prone to wander…prone to leave the God I
love.’"
The woman suddenly
understood. "You also wrote, ’Here’s my heart, O take and seal it.’ You
can offer your heart again to God, Mr. Robinson. It’s not too late."
And it wasn’t too late for
Robert Robinson. In that moment, he turned his heart back to God and walked
with him the rest of his days.
[Ron Lee Davis, Courage to
Begin Again, (Harvest House, Eugene, OR; 1978), pp. 145-147]
This is such a story of
hope and of God’s grace and love!
Another part of the song
says:
O to grace how great a
debtor,
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to
Thee.
AND WITH THAT I WANT TO
REMIND YOU… LIFE HAPPENS LET’S ENJOY IT!
And if you know someone
who is wandering; trust that our loving Father will orchestrate their return to
Him too.
This Devotion was in part from, Right from the Heart Ministries.
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