Lessons Seldom Sung

I love our hymns. I love the messages that they share, and that we're reminded of those messages every time we sing those hymns at church or our other meetings. However, many of our hymns have more verses (and thus, more lyrics and messages) than we often sing. One of those hymns is Hymn 116, Come, Follow Me. When we sing that hymn, we usually sing the first four verses, completely ignoring that fifth and sixth verses. Today, I'd like to share those two less-frequently repeated messages, and share my thoughts about them.

5. We must the onward path pursue
As wider fields expand to view,
And follow him unceasingly,
Whate'er our lot or sphere may be.

 As I interpret it, the "wider fields" represent the many choices we can make in life. There are hundreds, if not thousands of paths available to us, but we're asked to follow the straight and narrow one. This seems restrictive, and it kind of is, though we still have a great deal of freedom while we follow that path, and the results of following the straight and narrow path are worth any sacrifices.

It's also worth noting that this verse encourages us to follow Jesus, "Whate'er our lot or sphere may be." Followers of Christ come from all walks of life. We all have difference strengths and weaknesses, different challenges and talents. Despite our differences, the commandments and standards are the same for all of us. Certain commandments may be harder for us than for others, but God's plan is fairer than it sometimes seems. God tailors our challenges and His expectations to our abilities, and He judges us more on our efforts than on our accomplishments, so no matter where we start or how little we're given, we can follow God's plan successfully. And it's totally worth it if we do.

6. For thrones, dominions, kingdoms, pow'rs,
And glory great and bliss are ours,
If we, throughout eternity,
Obey his words, "Come, follow me."

This is a little-mentioned doctrine in the church, but it's one of my favorites. God has promised that as we follow the example of His Son, we can become as He is, not just in attributes, but also in status. Of course, it's going to take a lot of work, on both His part and ours, to get us worthy and ready to receive that status, but I believe that if we strive to be righteous and follow Christ "throughout eternity," there won't be any blessing that we won't eventually qualify for.

I consider it somewhat tragic that we don't sing these truths very often. By only singing the first three or four verses of the more popular hymns, we miss out on many precious lessons. So, the next time you sing hymns out of the hymnal, I'd encourage you to look to the bottom of the hymn to see if there are any verses you may not sing often or be very familiar with. Read their lyrics and ponder them, just as you do with the other verses. There may be messages and lessons in them that you might have otherwise missed.