Lyrics
Good Shepherd of my soul,
Come dwell within me;
Take all I am and mould
Your likeness in me.
Before the cross of Christ,
This is my sacrifice:
A life laid down and ready to follow.
The troubled find their peace
In true surrender;
The prisoners their release
From chains of anger.
In springs of living grace
I find a resting place
To rise refreshed and ready to follow.
I’ll walk this narrow road
With Christ before me,
Where thorns and thistles grow
And cords ensnare me.
Though doubted and denied,
He never leaves my side,
But lifts my head and calls me to follow.
And when my days are gone,
My strength is failing,
He’ll carry me along
Through death’s unveiling.
Earth’s struggles overcome,
Heaven’s journey just begun
To search Christ’s depths and ever to follow.
Surrender, commitment, and the eternal exploration of God
This is a simple song of surrender, commitment and trust in Christ, the Good Shepherd.
Just to note a couple of distinctive elements in the lyric. In verse 2 it talks about not only finding peace through true surrender; but also finding freedom from aspects of our own character that bind us. In verse 3 it also makes clear that Christ’s commitment to us is not dependent on our commitment to Him; we may doubt and even deny Him, but He will never leave or forsake us – an important message for those who feel weighed down by past failures.
We also tend to think of heaven as the end of our journey. But there’s nothing in the Bible to suggest we spend eternity idling around on clouds playing a harp! In fact, it’s more reasonable to think of heaven as an eternal journey of exploration into the boundless depths of life in God – and that is definitely something exciting to look forward to!
