YOU ARE SWEETER AS THE YEARS GO BY!

YOU ARE SWEETER AS THE YEARS GO BY!

As I sit here at my computer this windy and rainy evening my mind goes back through the years and I wonder where have they gone? I think of the milestones of my life, as I have just passed the anniversary of when I accepted Jesus as my Savior, 60+years.

But in all those passing years, One person has been at the center of my life.  And I can’t thank Him enough.  Oh, how I love the Lord Jesus Christ and how He has met me through the good and bad times of my life.  He has always been there even when I drifted away at times, being too busy,  He always drew me back into His arms of love.

He has been there in the shadows and the sunshine.  He has been there in the tears and in the joys of my life.  He has been there when I felt like I could not go one step further, and He was there in the next step I took.  He is my Shepherd, my God and the love of my heart forever.  When it seems like my trial goes on forever and the pain never ceases, He is there and grows sweeter and sweeter.  He grows sweeter as I age and many years are behind me and heaven is even closer now, and someday I will see His face.  Right now I just sense His presence and He comes to me in the night and He comes in sweet moments during the day.  And He is sweeter as the years go by, and they seem to go by quicker now as I am older.  But, oh, the joy of His presence and His smile!

SWEETER AS THE YEARS GO BY

Of  Jesus’ love that sought me, when I was lost in sin; of wondrous grace that brought me back to His fold again; of heights and depths of mercy, far deeper than the sea, and higher than the heavens, my theme shall ever be.

REFRAIN:  Sweeter as the years go by, sweeter as the years go by, richer, fuller, deeper, Jesus’ love is sweeter, sweeter as the years go by.

He trod in old Judea life’s pathway long ago; the people thronged about Him, His saving grace to know; He healed the broken hearted, and caused the blind to see; and still His great heart yearneth in love for even me. (Refrain)

T’was wondrous love which led Him for us to suffer loss, to bear without a murmur the anguish of the cross; with saints redeemed in glory, let us our voices raise, till Heav’n and earth re-echo our Redeemer’s praise (Refrain).  (Lelia N.Morris)

This precious lady, Lelia N. Morris, wrote this wonderful hymn in 1912.  She was active in the Methodist church, camp meetings, and song writing.  She wrote more than 1,000 Gospel songs.  When her eyes began to fail in 1913, her son built a 28 foot blackboard with oversized staff lines, so she could continue composing.

In her busy life of serving Jesus and later even becoming blind, she found her Savior even sweeter as the years went by.  What a testimony of faith!

Can you fathom the love of Jesus reaching out to us as lost sheep, as we were lost in sin and with His mercy and grace He draws into the fold.  And when we wonder from Him, He gently draws us back into His arms and oh the sweet love of My Shepherd as He tenderly folds His lambs into His bosom.

“I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.  For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever: Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens” Psalm 89:1.

We read in the Gospels as He walked this earth, healing the sick, opening blind eyes, breaking bread to feed the hungry and His deep compassion to the multitudes that thronged around Him.  And today, He lives within our hearts, healing our hurts our sickness, walking with us through the storms of our lives, healing our blindness, and forgiving our sins, and giving us just a glimpse of eternity with Him.  He opens our hearts as we read His Word and truly as we study and pray, His Word becomes sweeter and sweeter, as the Word says it becomes honey to our taste. “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Psalm 119:103

And this wonderful love, His sweet love, took Him to the cross to bear my sins and yours, and someday, because of that great love, we will sing with the saints in glory, and shout our victory songs, as we behold our Precious Savior and all we have gone through down here will be worth it all.  And we will truly be able to say, He was sweeter as the years went by, and now in eternity, He will grow even sweeter as we abide with Him forever!

In Jesus’ Precious Name,

Pastor Sharon