Hymn: “In Heavenly Love Abiding” – Anna L. Waring (1823-1910)
Common Tune: NYLAND
With Valentine's Day fresh on our minds, I'm going to elaborate on one of my wife Carlita’s favorite hymns. It is a great text, one that deserves more exposure than it gets in most congregations. Grab a hymnal and plumb its depths, and see if you don’t agree.
Let me prose-ify this first line to get us started: “Because I am living in the love of heaven – that love best expressed by Christ himself – I don’t need to be afraid of changes that come my way, because I can know safety and security in the confidence that the love of God never changes.”
“Change” didn’t used to bother me the way it does now that I’m becoming more of an old fogy. I admit that I bristle at things being changed up… especially just for the sake of change. I’m pretty sure my new and improved toothpaste has only changed its packaging, by the way!
Maintaining confidence that Kingdom things – at least those initiated by God himself – are not about to morph into something else is an important way to look at my spiritual life. Worship styles may be modified, churches may relocate, church polity may be revised… but the Word of God and his loving-kindness and faithfulness are consistent; safe is such confiding.
Good life-partners provide us with that kind of safe confidence, demonstrating love and faithfulness at every turn. In solid unions, we find ourselves in heavenly love abiding.
Let’s not be so afraid of change itself. Let’s share the assurance that external variations cannot alter the unshakeable Kingdom in which we abide and which abides within us.
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
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