1
Not where we elect to go,
But where Jesus leads the way,
There the living waters flow,
There our darkness turns to day.
But where Jesus leads the way,
There the living waters flow,
There our darkness turns to day.
2
Not our self-appointed task
Will the Lord's approval win,
But the work we did not ask,
Finished humbly, just for Him.
Will the Lord's approval win,
But the work we did not ask,
Finished humbly, just for Him.
3
Not the prayer we long to plead
When we bend before the Throne,
But the touching deeper need
Of the Spirit's wordless groan.
When we bend before the Throne,
But the touching deeper need
Of the Spirit's wordless groan.
4
Not the gift we proudly lay
On His altar will He heed,
If our hearts have said Him, "Nay,"
When He whispered, "I have need."
On His altar will He heed,
If our hearts have said Him, "Nay,"
When He whispered, "I have need."
5
Thus we die, and dying live
In the heavenlies with the Lord;
Thus we serve, and pray, and give,
Christ Himself our great Reward.
In the heavenlies with the Lord;
Thus we serve, and pray, and give,
Christ Himself our great Reward.
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Sydney, NSW, Australia
In the five verses to this hymn, the writer progresses from the direction of the Christian walk (calling to mind Galatians 5:25), to its work, being of the Lord (1 Thes. 1:3 - where each aspect of the work (being faith - Heb. 12:2) and the labour (being love - 1 Cor. 13) is of God in the processed, pneumatic Christ (Eph. 1:19-23, 2 Pet. 1:3) mingled with our spirit (Rom. 8:10) and soul (8:6) and body (8:11)) as our motivation and energy (1 Pet. 5:6), gaining the mind of Christ in prayer (1 Cor. 2:16, Eph. 3:20) entering into the depths of His being to know His desire of His heart not being presumptuous, laying the gift on the altar, Christ wrought in us and others for the reality of the Body of Christ (1 Pet. 2:5, Rom. 12:1-5, 15:16) and finally in the last verse Christ becomes everything to us in our uttermost preoccupation and enjoyment, becoming our reward in and as the New Jerusalem.