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At the throne I intercede;
For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend,
With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore,
Prayerful, watchful evermore,
And be constant unto me,
That thy Savior I may be.
"Joseph L. Townsend, 1849-1942"
As I sang this hymn before taking the sacrament yesterday, these words came to my soul at a depth I had never felt. It is written as if Christ were speaking directly to us but I guess I had never paid much attention. This is the last verse of the hymn and it is absolutely beautiful.
How comforting is it to know that the only man that was ever perfect constantly pleads at the throne of the Father for our cause? It is the source of all my joy. He pleads against the constant law of justice that looms over every one of us from the sins we commit knowingly and unknowingly. I am grateful that Jesus Christ pleads at that throne for me, for my family, for those I love, for all who live or lived or will live.
His love cannot end. It does not say will not end, as in a commitment for the future, it is cannot, he has already performed the actions that constitute a love that already exists and cannot be retrospectively dissolved.
The ending phrases is Christ imploring, begging someone earnestly or desperately to do something, to be obedient, prayerful, and watchful. This sounds as if Christ is fully invested in our cause and the ultimate decision is ours if we will accept his love and advocacy or reject it. Through obedience to his commandments we accept that divine offer.
I am reminded of the scirpture in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 4:30 which says, "But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not awatch yourselves, and your bthoughts, and your cwords, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and dcontinue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not."
I want to come unto Christ today and that is my goal, to come unto him.
