Had I a thousand lives, a thousand souls

(John Fawcett, "Christ Precious")

Play Audio  Download Audio
You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you READ the text below.

"My meditation of Him shall be sweet!" Psalm 104:34

It is the tendency of love, to excite in the mind many thoughts about the beloved object. A right knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, will fill the mind with thoughts and meditations concerning Him, so as to excite the affections to cleave to Him with delight. A discovery . . .
  of the glory of His person,
  of the perfection of His atoning sacrifice,
  and of the fullness of His grace,
must inspire the heart with love to Him.
"Yes, He is very precious to you who believe." 1 Peter 2:7

It is much to be lamented, that those who profess a sincere attachment to the Redeemer, should have their thoughts so little employed about Him. Where a multitude of worldly cares, desires, fears and hopes prevail in the mind-they cumber and perplex it so as to bring on a great disinclination to spiritual meditation.

The advice of the apostle Paul is of great importance in this case, "If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your affection (your mind, your thoughts,) on things above, not on things on the earth." But earthly and sensual affections fill the hearts and heads of men with multitudes of thoughts concerning those objects on which they are fixed, so as to leave no room nor any inclination for spiritual and heavenly thoughts.

"Shall not my thoughts," says the believer, "be frequently employed in meditating on the love of that infinitely glorious person to whom I am indebted for deliverance from the greatest misery, and for all the hope I have of being one day advanced to everlasting glory and felicity? He poured out His holy soul in agonies under the curse of the avenging law, to make me a partaker of eternal blessedness! He perfectly fulfilled the precepts of that holy law-that I, by His obedience, might be made righteous."

This glorious and adorable Redeemer, thought upon us long before the foundations of the world were laid. He bore us on His heart . . .
  when He hung on the cross;
  when He was torn with wounds, and racked with pain;
  when He poured out His dying groans, and spilt His blood.
He remembers us now, when He is exalted at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens; and will never, never forget us, through all the ages of eternity!

Surely, then, we ought to think of Him! Impressed with a sense of His everlasting kindness, we should be ready to say, as the captives in Babylon concerning their beloved city Jerusalem, "If I forget You, O blessed Jesus, let my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember You, if I don't make You my highest joy!"

What holy transports of soul, what divine delights, have many Christians experienced in meditating on the glories of the Redeemer! Ascending the mount of contemplation, their souls have taken wing and explored the height and depth, the length and breadth of the love of Christ which passes knowledge! They have seen by the eye of faith, that He is infinitely lovely in Himself, that He is . . .
 the admiration of angels,
 the darling of Heaven, and
 the delight of the Father!
They have viewed Him in the brightness of His ineffable glory, clothed with indescribable majesty and honor! They have been transported with the smiles of His countenance, and said of Him, "He is the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely."

They have also considered their own unworthiness, and said, "Can such a wretch as I be the object of His love? So vile a worm, so unprofitable a creature, so great a sinner, one so deserving of his everlasting abhorrence-has He loved me, so as to give Himself for me? O what marvelous kindness is this!

Is my worthless name written in His book of life? Am I . . .
  redeemed by His blood,
  renewed by His Spirit,
  beautified with His loveliness,
  and clothed in His righteousness?

O wonder of wonders! How can I forbear to love this adorable Savior? Can I withhold my choicest affections from Him? Ah no! Had I a thousand lives, a thousand souls-they would all be devoted to Him!

You tempting vanities of this base world, you flattering honors, you deceitful riches,  Adieu! Jesus is my all! He is my light, my life, my unfailing treasure, my everlasting portion! Nothing below the skies is deserving of my love. Precious Redeemer, in You the boundless wishes of my soul are filled. I long to leave this tenement of clay, and to rest in the bosom of Your love forever!"

"My meditation of Him shall be sweet!" Psalm 104:34