The Song That Saved Me

What’s your favorite song? What song was played at your wedding? What song do you think will be heard at your funeral?

My favorite song is Amazing Grace. IIt is the name of our camper and even our private road. That might tell how deeply it has settled into my life.

It was the name of our boat and as we approached the dock, I always like to hear the dock master say “Welcome Amazing Grace”.

Truth is, I once was blind, but now I see. I was the wretch who was saved. When I really see myself that way, not as someone who figured life out, but as someone rescued, it completely changes my level of gratitude. ]

Grace feels different when you stop minimizing what you were saved from.

Honestly, there was a time I never thought much about Jesus. Church was not on my radar. I never studied the words of Amazing Grace. I hated reading in school. Reading felt like a chore. Now the Bible is the essence of my life.

It shapes how I think, how I see people, and how I see myself. I used to be all about fun. Fun was the goal. Now fun feels so temporary and worldly. I still count every worldly blessing and I thank God for them, but I compare them to what will be. And there will be no comparison from here to heaven.

“We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NCV).

When I take communion, I slow down and visualize Jesus leaving heaven. I picture Him living the perfect life I would not live. I picture Him standing there knowing He could stop everything. Jesus said, “Do you think I cannot ask my Father for help, and he would give me more than twelve armies of angels?” (Matthew 26:53 NCV).

He could have called them. He could have stepped away. Instead, He chose to stay on the cross. He chose to die instead of me. For my personal sins and for yours. All of them. Past, present, and even future.

“But God shows his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NCV).

In Revelation, John describes a scene that feels like worship finally made complete:

“Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. With him were one hundred forty four thousand people who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the noise of flooding water and like the sound of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like people playing harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the new song except the one hundred forty four thousand who had been bought from the earth” (Revelation 14:1 to 3 NCV).

Some believe that number is literal - the saved Jews. Maybe it is. Others believe the number represents all believers. Either way, the meaning is clear - we sing.

Redeemed people sing. We sing a new song with a new voice that those who decline Christ cannot sing, do not sing, and will not sing. Not because they are blocked, but they simply reject the idea of singing this new song.

So today, I sing Amazing Grace. It really is a sweet sound. It saves. My fear of death has been released. It saves me from danger, from despair, and from myself. Grace reminds me of who I was and who I am becoming because of Jesus Christ.

For those loving and following Christ, one day, when we have been in heaven for ten thousand years, shining as the sun, we will still be singing God’s praise. No less than when we first began our journey of salvation. It’s free. All you have to do is receive it.

It’s the most powerful Christmas gift and it’s totally free.

LORD, why? Why did you choose to love the unlovely? Why did you save the ungrateful? Why did you give us your amazing grace? We did not earn it. We did not deserve it. But we - me - I - thank you for saving a wretch like me. IJNIP amen ♥️

(Photo: our Amazing Grace Print in our little dining area)