When I Survey

I wonder if you ever have a moment during worship music when you suddenly become aware of what you're singing and what it actually means. I often have these moments and it makes me realise how much of my time spent in worship at church or college is wasted due to simply not coming with the proper attitude. How many church services do we stand and sit without actually meditating on the words we sing?

The most recent instance I speak of was when our church was singing When I Survey. I have led this song in various places many times as well as singing it in church all my life, and as such I have become completely complacent when singing it. This time I didn't particularly pay attention to it until it was almost over. The final two lines of the song suddenly jumped out at me.

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

There was so much power and meaning in those two lines that I'm not even convinced I would make it that far if I had been singing the song in total honesty. What a declaration! How can we possibly be half-hearted or bored when we sing about the amazing nature of God? David danced before the city about it, Paul and Silas sang in prison chains about it, what has happened that we stand in what we insist is a family unit together and sing these words with a lack of enthusiasm. Surely this is something that has to be addressed?

These words list things which we must hand over if we wish to be a part of thise amazing love (demand; not just something that is recommended or that might help, but essential), our soul, our life, everything about us. When we become a Christian, is it unfair to say that we get as far as the first one and then stop? We happily offer our soul to Him so that He can save us and ensure the blissful reunion we are promised, but after this we struggle to hold up our end of the bargain. Can any of us really say that we happily give our whole life to Him? That everytrhing about us starts and ends with God? I mean it can't just be me that notices how all modern worship songs seem to sing of how glorious and wonderful God is, draining our vocabulary of superlatives to use for Him. It's almost as if we fear to sing about ourselves or our part in these songs because that will highlight how far short we fall.

The next time you stand in church, try and focus on each word you sing and hopefully this will shine a light over your life revealing the work that needs to be done. Otherwise we just carry on with blinders on our eyes.