My Jesus, I Love Thee

BIBLE REFERENCE:

We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul,
and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole
burnt offerings and sacrifices. Mark 12:33

But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the
LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his
commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Joshua 22:5

Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. Deuteronomy 11:1

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deuteronomy 6:5

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Matthew 22:37

I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Psalms 116:1

HYMN HISTORY:

This beloved hymn which so profoundly expresses the believer�s love and gratitude to Christ, was written by a very young man, named William Ralph Featherston. (at times spelled Featherstone)

William was born on July 23, 1846 in Montreal, Canada. He was the son of John and Mary Featherston. Ralph's family were all members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Montreal. It has been told that young Featherston penned the words to this lovely hymn at the time of his conversion experience, when he was sixteen years of age. Though information about William Featherston is scarce it is believed that after it was written he sent the text to his aunt Mrs. E. Featherston Wilson living in Los Angeles, she quickly asked for its publication. The original copy of this much loved poem, in the author�s boyish handwriting, is still a cherished treasure in the family. Strangely, however, the hymn text appeared anonymously with a different tune in an English hymnal, The London Hymn Book, published in 1864.

The composer, Adoniram Judson Gordon, was born in New Hampton, New Hampshire, on April 19, 1836, and was named for the famous pioneer Baptist missionary to India-Burma. After graduating from Newton Theological Seminary, Gordon was ordained in 1863, and six years later was called to pastor the prestigious Clarendon Street Baptist Church of Boston. He became a close friend of Dwight L. Moody and was of great assistance in Moody�s ministry efforts in Boston.

Dr. A. J. Gordon, who was a well-known evangelist and pastor discovered and loved the lyrics of this anonymous hymn in The London Hymn Book in 1870. For several years Dr. Gordon had been working on assembling a new hymnal geared especially for baptist congregations. One day as he meditated on the anonymous English hymn, he became dissatisfied with its existing melody. It is said that soon after, in a moment of inspiration, he wrote the beautiful melody we hear today. The hymn in its present form first appeared in the hymnal, The Service of Song for Baptist Churches, complied by S. L. Caldwell and A. J. Gordon and published in 1876. The hymn has been included in nearly every Christian hymnal published the present time. Dr. Gordon is also the composer for another popular gospel song, �In Tenderness He Sought Me.� Dr. A. J. Gordon died on February 2, 1895, in Boston, after a life of service to the Lord andto his fellowman.

As we study the backgrounds and stories behind our precious hymns, we never cease to marvel at the workings of God in bringing together the necessary circumstances that make possible the birth and preservation of the beautiful expressions, such as this one �My Jesus, I Love Thee.� Believers have, and can still employ in their praise and adoration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When Jesus was asked, what the greatest commandment is? He tells us in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 22, that the Greatest Commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

The Bible teaches that those who keep this commandment and love Him with all their heart, soul and mind:

Are known of Him. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. 1 Corinthians 8:3

Are preserved by Him. The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. Psalms 145:20

Are delivered by Him. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. Psalms 91:14

Partake of His mercy. And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:6; Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; Deuteronomy 7:9

Have all things working for their good. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

God has given us the ultimate demonstration of His love by sending to earth in the form of a man the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His life as an atonement for the sins of all mankind. He was buried and three days later rose from the dead victorious, and sits at the right hand of the Father. If you have never experienced this kind of love and have accepted Him as your personal Savior will you do so today. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16