Tis so sweet to Trust in Jesus, John 13:34

I thought instead of doing two posts I would combine them into one. Over the last week or so I have been hearing the Hymn "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" and there have been some lines in that song that have struck me. The verse was the memory verse for my 4th grade boys tonight. Both the hymn and the verse are simple, but yet so hard to follow.

The title of the hymn "Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus" alone struck me. It is a simple title, but so hard to follow. There have been times in my life that trusting in Jesus did not seem sweet to me. It is a whole lot easier to sing the song and say that we trust in Jesus, but when it comes to actually living it out in our lives it is a whole different story. The next 2 lines "Just to take Him at His Word; Just to rest upon His promise" also struck me. They sound so simple, but to actually act them out in our lives so much harder. I find it hard to follow these simple words, because the world around would rather have me focus on myself and not Christ. With this in mind I need to make sure that I am continually in the Word.


The verso for my 4th graders was "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34 Again simple words, but so hard to accomplish. What I find so hard is there are no exceptions. We are command to love one another no matter what. There is no room to say "but." I know in my life there has been times that I have wanted there to be exceptions to this command. More often than not I usually fail at following this command. It is so simple yet so hard to accomplish.


Looking back at these two things that sound simple, but yet so hard to follow and act out I have to remember that it is not through my own strength that I will be able to follow these commands and guidelines. This statement alone sounds simple, but again is hard to follow at times. At times where I find it hard I need to remember how big a God I serve. Just this morning when I got to work as I was walking to the door. I looked to my left and saw the sun rising and looked to my right and saw the moon setting. I just had to stop for a minute and remember how Big God really is. It seems like every time I make a statement I realize how simple it sounds, yet how hard it is to act out. This is a struggle that I will probably never understand.