Training Children Who Will Not Be Moved
Before Sunday School last Sunday, we sang Fanny J. Crosby’s beautiful hymn “He Hideth My Soul,” which is listed as “A Wonderful Savior” in our hymn book. A line in the second verse says, “He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved.” That line touched me particularly last Sunday. I love that the hymn reminds me to hold on. Indeed I shall not be moved.
Sometimes when I want to tell Ray that I will always be his faithful wife, I tell him, “You’re stuck with me.” I feel that way with God, too. He’s stuck with me. I’m not going anywhere.
Here’s the rest of that beautiful hymn.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see.
Chorus
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord;
He taketh my burden away.
He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved;
He giveth me strength as my day. Chorus
With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
And filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, “Oh, glory to God
For such a Redeemer as mine!” Chorus
When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise
To meet Him in clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love,
I’ll shout with the millions on high. Chorus
What wonderful homeschooling goals there are in Crosby’s hymn. The grand purpose of educating our children is to train them never to “be moved” from following God, to share the message of our great Redeemer Jesus Christ with them, to train them to glorify Him, and to lead them to Him so they can someday be transported to live with Him forever and “shout with the millions on high.”
But the goal of our instruction is
love from a pure heart,
from a good conscience,
and from a sincere faith.
1 Timothy 1:5