How Would I Know?

He loved me ere I knew him. What an odd sentence. Over the last week, I’ve talked with people about the music we sing at church. Opinions about what we should sing vary. Since I select the songs for each service, the decision is mine. I’ve been doing this for twenty-nine years at this church. In reality, I’ve been doing it for 57 years because I started serving as an accompanist and worship leader when I was ten years old. Honestly, I love all worship music, contemporary, Gospel, hymns, new, old, bluegrass, country, classic.

The conversation is not new. Last week we sang an old favorite hymn, Victory in Jesus. Recently I’ve been making more of an effort to incorporate those old songs into our services. My spirit loves to sing them. I’ve often said, if you want to know God and you don’t have a Bible, pull out a hymnal. Those songs tell the story.

Hang with me here for a minute and you will see where I am going with this. Last week I had the opportunity to keep a one-month-old infant overnight. His mom is a friend. She made a trip to the ER and they admitted her. The baby came home with me. I’d met this child for a brief moment, but we got to know each other that night. I will always know that I love him but he’s a baby. He will not know that I love him unless we spend some time together as he grows up.

The same thing is true with all children. Their parents love them from day one, but if you separate a baby from its mother and father, the child will not know that they love them as they mature. The question came to me as I gardened, because it occurred to me that the reason I know which plants will come back and which ones will not, is because I’ve spent time with them.

Since I’m a songwriter myself, lyrics linger with me. I think about them a lot. I thought about that phrase “he loved me ere I knew him,” as it related to the baby I kept. If he never spends any more time with me, will he know that I love him? No, he will not.

One of the quotes from my book, The Power of a Well-Placed Yes, God’s Abundant Faithfulness in a Small Church is: If I could choose one place to take a child every week, it would be Sunday school. The reason I feel this way is because that is where a child often learns that God loves them. They don’t just automatically know this.

I recently had a conversation with a young adult who said these familiar words. “I’m just trying to figure out who I am.” My heart cried because it was someone who I thought understood that he was a beloved child of God. From that understanding, the question becomes, “Who do I want to become in God’s kingdom.” One of those statements indicates confusion and frustration and the other implies a knowledge of value and purpose.

If you want to get to know someone, spend time with them. This truth applies to our relationship with God too. If we want our children to know God, we must provide opportunities for them to spend time with his people and his Word. Then the lyrics from the song will ring true. They will know that God loved them before they even knew him.

Albert E. Brumley & Sons, Victory in Jesus, 1939