Come,
ye weary, heavy-laden, lost and ruined by the fall;
If you
tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.
Let
not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream;
All
the fitness He requireth is to feel your need of Him.
---Joseph Hart, 1759
I have never had a maid or cleaning service (visit my house
and you’ll know it!), but I have heard several folks speak of “cleaning up for
the maid to come”. It always makes me smile a little, but I sort of know the
impulse. Maybe it is the same urge that overcomes folks with disorganized piles
of random receipts just before they meet with their accountants. There is
something in us that will admit we are needy, but not too needy. We need Jesus’ salvation and
life-changing power, but we don’t want to need it too much. Sure, we’re sinners, but not sinners.
This hymn, one of my favorites from that era (1800’s
American), reminds me all the time that I need Jesus, and that if I wait
around to acknowledge my need till I’m more worthy of Christ’s attention, time
will pass, and I may never approach the intimacy with God that Jesus offers me.
I need not dream of fitness; Jesus is ready to accept me as I
am…poor…needy…ready.
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