Sometimes my thoughts and the words I want to write simply cannot make their way outside of my head. Such has been the case this week so, instead of what I originally planned to write, I am going to share the words of an old hymn that I’ve been singing and, at times, weeping over as of late. Written by Elvina M. Hall (1865), the hymn, Jesus paid it all, is widely known in Christian circles and often sung in church services. Today, her words, first penned as a poem and later set to music by her Pastor, are the thankful cry of this woman’s heart, 156 years later.

 I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small,
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Never have I been so aware of my own weakness and frail nature. Never have I been so acutely aware of my tendency to lean on my own understanding and my own strength, trusting in my own works of righteousness instead of resting in my Savior as truly, my all in all.

Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Never have I recognized so clearly this within myself and never have I felt this depth of grief at my own sin nature. Never have I identified more with the Apostle Paul when he wrote, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of good is not … Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:18,24)

But this also is true — never have I been more thankful for a sovereign God and the sacrifice of Christ when He laid down His life for me. My sin was a crimson stain that I never could wash out on my own or redeem on my own but His sacrifice, offered with a love that is beyond my comprehension, washed the stains away and made me white as snow before a holy God.

Christ paid the debt that I could not pay and because of Him, I can further agree with the Apostle Paul when he wrote, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 7:25-8:1)

My heart is often saddened by how prone I am to wander and prone to leave the God I love (Hymn: Come Thou Fount, written by Robert Robinson – 1758). As the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) But, such is the heart that recognizes its true nature of sin and wretchedness and, as a result, begins to understand its absolute need of a Savior, through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone. 

Because of the sacrifice of God the Son and the working of God the Holy Spirit, I know this sinful heart of stone is melted through His power and His alone. Because of this, I echo the words of Paul once more: I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)

I am fully dependent on His grace, day by day, because He alone bore the penalty of my sin and calls me His child. I can walk this journey of life confident that at the end, I will see Jesus face to face not by my own merit or works, but because of Him alone. Jesus paid it all — All to HIM I owe.

What a wonderful Savior.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.