WHEN THE BOOK OF MY LIFE IS OPENED

 

When the book of my life is opened

One day there will be a reckoning, when all our days are told,
When every hidden thought is known, when time itself unfold;
Each of us shall stand there, before the judgment Throne,
Before the gaze of Christ our Lord, no merit of our own.

He will ask with piercing light, yet mercy in His Tone,
“What did you do with My Word, the seed that I have sown?
Were you faithful to My teaching, your footsteps true and right?
Or did you turn away from Me, and wander from My Light?”

I may answer, truthfully, “Lord, my life book has seen blot;
I sinned in word and silence, oft the better path forgot;
I hurt others, I did falter; I failed in love and deed,
And often acted blindly, unperceiving others’ need.

Yet through it all, I sought You; though stumbling on my way.
I tried to rise when fallen, to begin anew each day.
When I looked upon You, Lord, upon the Cross You bore,
I found the strength to stand again, when I could stand no more.

For even as You fell for me, beneath that heavy wood,
My heart was strangely lifted up to choose what once I should;
And so I learned in weakness, in sorrow and in pain,
That falling is not final when Your Mercy lifts again.

Yes, my book was marked and written. with faults beyond deny -
There were times I turned away, compassion passed me by;
There were moments I grew silent. when I should have stood for right,
When others’ pain lay open, and I failed them in their plight.

Yet still Your Mercy softened me, like rain upon dry ground,
In cracks of brokenness, Your healing Grace I found;
Slowly, imperfectly, I learned to love and give,
In Your Word and Sacrament, I learned again to live.

Oh, dear Lord, I cast myself, upon Your Mercy's Flame,
No great holiness of mind and soul, are ever mine to claim.
I only ask that when You look into this heart of mine,
You see the work of Your own Hand; and faintest trace of Thine.

Though my book is written in with pages stained and worn,
Still let Your Mercy gather what in love was truly born.
Let Your gentle hands, O Saviour, sift the gold from all my clay;
Please keep what was of You in me -  let the rest all pass away.

Poem inspired by Rev Vanessa's sermon

Image courtesy of ChatGPT and CN Whittle "Devotion before Royal Throne"

                                                               ********************

Public sermon by Reverend Vanessa Wyse Jackson December 2014; Dublin Ireland - 

"One day, there will be a reckoning. Jesus will ask us, what did we do with His Word in our lives?"

                                                                  Reverend Vanessa Wyse-Jackson