MY JESUS, I LOVE THEE

We have all been young people.  When we were teenagers, we probably pushed the envelope as we found our way in life.  Apparently, it has always been the same in each generation.  In fact, it is reported that in an inscription found in a 6,000-year-old tomb, the message lamented that the youth of that day no longer respected their parents, that they were rude and impatient and they had no self-control. But many times, our youth have changed the world. 

Let’s think in the Bible about Joseph…or maybe Daniel…then there is David, the giant-killer…what about the teenage girl, Mary…the mother of Jesus.  Charles Spurgeon preached to great crowds as a teenager.  When others referred to his youthfulness, he replied, “Never mind my age.  Think of the Lord Jesus Christ and His preciousness.”  Isaac Watts wrote his most memorable hymns at about 19 years of age.  The hymn “Work for the Night is Coming”, was written by an eighteen-year-old.  And our hymn today, MY JESUS, I LOVE THEE, was written by a sixteen-year-old…that is right…a sixteen-year-old.

William Featherston was born in Montreal in 1846;  he died 26 years later. With his family, he attended the Wesleyan Methodist Church.  It would seem that he wrote a poem celebrating his conversion to Christ.  It is reported that he sent it to an aunt living in California and somehow it was published as an anonymous hymn in a British hymnal in 1864.  Even though we do not know much else, it is enough to know that God can use anyone…regardless of age – to affect the world!

This is William’s love song to his Lord and Saviour…MY JESUS, I LOVE THEE.