O Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me

Our growing is for the unique purpose of God, that is, the building up of the Body of Christ through transformation (Eph. 4:12b; 1 Pet. 2:2, 5; 1 Cor. 3:12). The first stanza of hymn #395 (Hymns) begins, "O Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me." We all need to pray, "Lord, grow in me." Two additional hymns, #548 and #750, concern the matter of transformation. The young people need to spend their time on their education, and the working ones need to have a job in order to make a living, but the goal is not merely for us to have a proper daily living. The goal of our living is the building up of the Body of Christ. We need to be built up.

"That I am nothing, Thou art all" in stanza 2 of Hymns, #395 conveys the same meaning. Recently I read a biography of John Nelson Darby. On the first page he says, "O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothing but a living Christ in glory, and being careful for nothing but His interests down here." This was a word spoken in his old age, in which he longed to be nothing, to have nothing, and to care for nothing but to have only Christ and care only for His interests on earth. What a joy this is! Hence, "Be not and He will be; / Wait and He'll all things give." Through the generations there were saints who experienced this. Today we should have this experience even more.

Now let us consider the hymns for the fellowship meeting. Suppose the saints are like plain water that is neither sweet nor sour nor spicy and thus are indifferent toward the Lord when they come together for the fellowship meeting. Which hymn should we select for opening the meeting? Someone may suggest Hymns, #395, "O Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me, / And all thing else recede." This hymn is not appropriate. It is not a general hymn but rather has a specific purpose; such a hymn can be used in leading to a particular subject. Another person may suggest Hymns, #960, "My King will soon come back again." This hymn is acceptable but still not adequate. Because it is a longer hymn, it is suitable as an opening hymn, to give the saints time for their hearts to be settled and for their spirits to be uplifted. This hymn is a better choice than Hymns, #395 because it reminds us of the condition at the Lord's coming back.

c. Giving the Lord the full way to grow in our heart will make our heart the duplicate of God's heart, and we will live a life fully according to and for God's New Testament economy to carry out His heart's desire—Hymns, #395, #1132.