Toward His Heaven

Shoulders weary, laden, worn

Striving upward on a hill,

Burden heavy, dirty,  torn

Pulling fiercely, climbing still.

Knowing surely, burden must

Be carried onward from the cross.

Doggedly, blindly, pushing onward

Determined to burn up all the dross.

Plodding, plodding, always plodding

Onward trodding, from the cross,

Toward His heaven climbing still,

Afraid to stop or all is loss.

Master sadly shakes His head,

bends down from His throne;

Gently touches little me,

tells me I am not alone.

Bids me open eyes & see,

I wonder how I cannot know,

And blindly I ignore Him,

When truth & light He free bestow.

He keeps on calling out my name,

Telling me to stop, & turn away from muddled mire

I think I hear from up above

& so I keep on climbing higher.

He knows my burden blocks my ears,

I am His sealed &  washed in blood

He will not see me walk away

From His presence, grace & love.

He pulls my burden hard away,

Clinging to it, I fight His mighty hand & moan

About my unwillingness to let go, I say that I’m

‘Afraid I’ll fail & never make it on my own.’

In a whisper He calms my heart

& shows me truth anew

His Son He sent, my burden bore,

There’s nothing left for me to do.

My burden of who I thought I had to be

Fell slowly to the ground,

I thanked Him for His grace & love

But again, I began to look around.

I didn’t fully trust His grace

And what He said He did.

I somehow thought I could save face

& dismiss all the sin I hid.

He passionately pursued me,

& tore my selfishness from me away,

It hurt, ingrained so deeply,

Held by sin’s dark way.

Blinded to my pride,

I thought I could press on, in my own

He knew better & in His grace

Would not let me, by wind be blown.

I pray to walk by His side,

Along the narrow way,

For this I’m made,

To worship Him all day.

To be an arrow on the road,

Not gathering crowds around me in a little glade

But pointing towards the cross of Christ,

Where every debt was freely paid.  

By His grace & that alone,

I stand here truly free,

& if my burden I lift anew,

Again, His truth will chase me.

& someday in His sacred place,

I’ll see afresh how very wrong I am.

When I look into His face,

& weeping touch His hands.

His grace is deep & love is wide,

His sacrifice was limitless,

To cover every single sin of mine

& I simply must confess;

That naught of good have I done,

Or ever could I do;

You clothed me in your righteousness,

& made my life anew.

Knowing surely, burden must

Be left behind at that rugged cross.

In His strength I’m pushing onward

By His grace He’s burning up my dross.

I’m sealed in Him

Held firm by grace

Until my final breath on earth,

& waking see His face.