I recently downloaded Matthew Smith‘s “All I Owe” album, and have had it on repeat for a few days now. For those of you that aren’t familiar with him, he’s a singer/songwriter that is really adept at taking old hymn texts and setting them to new music and melodies. Phenomenal album, if you’re looking for something new. I highly recommend it.
One of the songs that I keep going back to is “My Lord I Did Not Choose You”. Here are a couple of the lines:
“Unless Your grace had called me and taught my opening mind
The world would have enthralled me to heavenly glories blind.
My Lord I did not choose You, for that could never be
My heart would still refuse me, Had You not chosen me.”
(Copyright 2003-Detuned Radio Music. Words by Josiah Conder,
Music by Matthew Smith)
Can you relate? The more I think about the way in which God saved me, the more I realize it was His wooing me, His calling, His hand on me than it was my own desires. Why? Because, left to myself, I’d never have chosen Him. Can I get a witness? This is something I feel so inadequate to talk about, yet I feel compelled to write about.
My life has been a history of my own running from God, while He, like the Hound of Heaven, pursued me. I didn’t find Jesus. Jesus found me. He opened my eyes. I love Him because He loved me first. Again, on my own, I chose the world time and time again.
How about you? What are your thoughts? Can you relate?
If you’re interested in listening, click and scroll take a listen using the streaming audio player on his site.
The Wading Pool 