“Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” a hymn by Horatius Bonar, Scottish Presbyterian minister, author, biographer, and hymn writer (1808 – 1889).
The music for this reading is “Love & Generosity” and “Christmas Eve” both by Borrtex and were adapted for length under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow thee;
Destitute, despis’d, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shalt be.
Perish, ev’ry fond ambition,
All I’ve sought, and hop’d, and known;
Yet how rich is my condition;
God and Heav’n are still my own!
Let the world despise and leave me;
They have left my Savior, too;
Human hearts and looks deceive me;
Thou art not, like them, untrue;
And while thou shalt smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate, and friends may shun me;
Show thy face, and all is bright!
Go then, earthly fame and treasure!
Come, disaster, scorn, and pain!
In thy service, pain is pleasure;
With thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called thee Abba, Father;
I have stayed my heart on thee;
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;
All must work for good to me.
Haste then on from grace to glory,
Arm’d by faith, and wing’d by pray’r;
Heav’n’s eternal day before thee;
God’s own hand shall guide me there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission;
Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and pray’r to praise.
