All the Folly

I want to share a few thoughts about a song that brought me to my knees at church a few weeks ago—“My Jesus, I Love Thee.” The line that really got my attention was “For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.” The following is an expansion of what ran through my mind in the few seconds it took to sing that. (Actually, I think my whole thought was, “Ouch!”)

“For Thee” – My desire to be free from sin can’t be based on anything but God’s holiness and the righteousness He gives me in Christ. It’s not a self-improvement kick, to make me look better or even to be a better witness for Him. It’s not about my pride in overcoming sin. Nor is it about the flip side of pride, self-contempt for my failure to overcome sin. My only motivation should be “for Thee,” out of love for the One who loves me regardless of how good or bad I look.

“All” – Is it really my desire to give up all sins, or just the ones that are evident or shameful? I may be able to hide certain sins from most people, but not from God. Pride makes me want to keep up a good façade, but nothing is hidden from God’s judgment. Is it His standard I follow, or the “average Christian” standard? I know I won’t be sin-free in this lifetime, but that should be my desire.

“The follies of sin” – Do I really believe that sin is folly? From various dictionaries, folly means foolish, costly, unwise, stupidity, evil, and wickedness. It is not just a mistake or error, but a foolish choice to elect sin over obedience, wrong over right. I don’t want to make stupid choices when I know what is right. But again, it should not be because I need to be right, but because God is holy and right and good.

“I resign” – I can’t just take a vacation from sin, or change positions within the company, but I need to quit. I don’t work for that master anymore. I have a new Master in Christ, and I need to listen to Him. Even when the old master promises benefits and rewards I think I want, I can’t return to his employment.

The verse goes on to say, “My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; if ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.” He has redeemed me from the power of sin, so why do I still feel powerless? He has saved me from the consequences of sin, so why do I still feel condemned? I am more convinced than ever that I have a very real enemy who wants to keep me living as if I am in bondage, instead of living like the free, loved, child of God that I am.

The second verse begins, “I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me, and purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree…” On my own I can do nothing. I would be bound to serve the enemy forever. But because of Christ’s love I can love, I can overcome sin, and I can live in the freedom of Divine pardon. I’m not just let out of prison, but I am pardoned from all guilt and my record is wiped clean.

Sam Storms writes in Pleasures Evermore, “The power that the pleasures of sin exert on the human soul will ultimately be overcome only by the superior power of the pleasures of knowing and being known, loving and being loved by God in Christ” (p. 20). And in The Singing God, “I can accept the fact that God is love and that He delights in pouring out His affection on us. But my heart yearns to feel the gentle and reassuring warmth of His love for me with all my faults and failures, with all the secret sins no one else knows about but God, without my first changing and becoming different… or better. I need to know that God loves me just the way I am now… today!” (p. 7).

I feel like I keep repeating the same themes in my blog posts, but that’s because I have to keep being reminded of what God is trying to teach me. And from what I’ve read and heard, I know I’m not the only one who struggles to believe that the Christian life is not about what I do but about being loved, accepted, chosen, and redeemed by the God of the universe.