1. Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
2. Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
3. Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
4. Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
Willaim D. Longstaff
The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition
<idle musing>
When I went to hymnary.org to check on the biography for Longstaff, I was shocked to discover this hymn only occurs in 297 hymnals! It was an old standby when I was growing up, so I assumed it was more common.
Be that as it may, this is the perfect hymn for our rushed society, as "the world rushes on."
By the way, you could do worse today than reading the brief biography of Longstaff. The reach of Keswick was long. Pity it got coopted by those who don't believe in deliverance from sin in this life. How can you live that way? : (
Totally off subject now, but I've noticed a significant difference in the last hundred or so years in how the gospel is presented. It used to be "cast out our sin" to quote a famous Christmas carol, but now it has become "forgive our sin." Subtle difference, but the difference between a victorious life and a life of strife and struggle. As I said, How can you live that way? It sells the gospel and the power of God way too short. Anyway, just an
</idle musing>
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