Today Your mercy calls us
To wash away our sin,
However great our trespass,
Whatever we have been;
However long from mercy
We may have turned away,
Your blood, oh Christ, can cleanse us,
And make us pure today.
Today Your gate is open,
And all who enter in
Shall find a Father’s welcome,
And pardon for their sin:
The past shall be forgotten,
A present joy be given,
A future grace be promised,
A glorious crown in heaven.
Oh all embracing mercy,
Oh ever open door,
What should we do without You.
When heart and eyes run o’er?
When all things seem against us,
To drive us to despair,
We know one gate is open,
One ear will hear our prayer.
(Oswald Allen 1816-78)
We sang this hymn one Sunday morning recently. It was a joy to sing, and I took a photo of it to read it again later. When I later typed the words into the memo app on my phone, it highlighted in blue and underlined the word “today” each time it appears. I accidentally clicked on one of the ‘today’s and it linked through to my planner for that day. This gave me unexpected pause to reflect that when Hebrews 4:7 (the verse that inspired this hymn) says “today, if. you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart” it really does mean this very day, right now even. Perhaps you can’t forgive yourself for something, or you think God can’t forgive you? Don’t hold yourself back from God’s mercy and forgiveness when He holds it out to you. Take all your wrong to Him today and repent. Take God’s gift. Christ died so we can have it.
Deb Palmer