New Home, Final Refuge, The Lord

5/29/2020

One week from today we will go to our truck rental place and get the equipment necessary for our move. Then on Saturday, the 6th of June, we will have the movers load us up and take us to our new home: 403 3rd St., NW in beautiful “residential downtown” Fort Payne, Alabama. Just a step or two more than 3 blocks away from the center of the historic downtown area and an easy walking distance to restaurants and other businesses as we need them. In fact, add only a block or so to the North to get to our daughter’s store—Blue Jug Alkaline Water & Health Market. We are very much looking forward to this move. It will be the 22nd place we will have lived in our (soon to be) 60 years of marriage!

I’ll change my blog page heading picture just as soon as we move. It’ll be a select look at one part of the new place—don’t yet know which part. Might need to do a slide show over the next several blogs. There isn’t much about the remodeled look that resembles the 6 months ago look. I have the old look in a photo list, next I plan on taking new shots of every angle and every room. We’ll see how it best shows our home.

Awaking very early this morning, caused me to go back to sleep for a little bit. But, upon the second arousing the same song was with me; a true SIMH for today. Some song categories make perfect sense when placed under subtitles in the index of old hymnals (I don’t know if hymnbook companies still do this or not.) “Where Could I Go But To The Lord” comes under the heading “Refuge.” A perfect fit. J.B. Coats wrote this inspiring hymn of perfect refuge in 1940. His inspiration for it went back to a childhood memory of a dying neighbor’s reply when young JB asked him if he knew where he was going when he died: “Where could I go but to the Lord,” said the old gentleman to the young lad. 

Living below, in this old sinful world

Hardly a comfort can afford

Said the first verse,

Neighbors are kind, I love them everyone

We get along in sweet accord

Said the second, and the third:

Life here is grand, with friends I love so dear

Comfort I get from God’s own word

But, when each verse’s point left us here, in a world in which agreeing with the Lord has become so out of step with our society, the title question, “Where could I go but to the Lord?” is all that is left to conclude. JB’s neighbor was right, what other refuge is there? None. It’s the perfect refuge song.

“Where could I go, oh where could I go?

Seeking a refuge for my soul

Needing a friend, to help me in the end

Where could I go, but to the Lord?”

Recognizing this song’s emphasis carries a certain hope of mine for the future. I think of those who’ve come my way with regard to how I’ve been privileged to “present” the Lord to them and whether they have responded in favor of the Lord in their lives, my hope for each one, be they close to me or simply a one time occasion, my hope is the same: finally, our refuge is the Lord. To whomever is reading this, consider: 

The Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins (all of them: past, present, future); 

was buried (the symbolism of the burial is the taking of the cause of Christ’s death, our sins, away from the presence of The Father), 

and thusly; The Father had the justification to raise Christ from the dead (thereby justifying all mankind.)

In return, The Father sent the message via the Son, The Lord Jesus Christ to the “chief of sinners,” Paul and said, in essence, “Go tell the world this great message and only add one requirement: Believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ and you’ll be saved.”

With all else we teach, whether from Genesis or from The Revelation or anywhere in between, this is the over-riding message for all-time. It is the safe and final refuge for anyone’s soul.

Thanks for reading, the Elder