When I Survey... (Part 2)
As the first verse of the hymn ends with understanding a personal surrender of former sources of pride, the second verse picks up the theme of boasting.
"Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ My Lord, All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood."
When is the last time you evaluated the components of pride within your own heart? C. S. Lewis called PRIDE "the great sin" because it's connected to every other vice. Using the cross as a mirror, a survey of the wondrous cross puts my boasting in the perspective of eternity. What have I done that could even touch the fringe of the garment of that God-man on the cross? Isaac Watts is playing off of Paul's words in Galatians 6:14 -- "May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Paul had nothing in and of himself worthy of salvation, no accomplishments to merit grace, no achievements in academics or religion or society or family to take pride in...and neither do any of us...except for the fact that Jesus died for me, the unworthy wretch, and through His cross I have gone from possessing NOTHING...in fact facing unimaginable debt...to now possessing EVERYTHING - sonship with the Father, inheritance of the kingdom, life eternal that has already begun. And all the other distractions that I have put so much focus on I now reevaluate and see how they compare to the saving blood of Jesus.
So boast this week! But make sure your pride is only in the wondrous cross of Christ.
To His Glory,
Caleb
