Be Thou My Vision, ELW 793 & WOV 776
1 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art:
thou my best thought both by day and by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
2 Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord.
Thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tow’r,
raise thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.
3 Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise,
thou mine inheritance, now and always:
thou and thou only, the first in my heart,
great God of heaven, my treasure thou art.
4 Light of my soul, after victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
Devotion
In a world of competing claims and promises, it can be difficult to see what God wants of us. We are constantly asking for clarity and vision in our Christian lives. We want to be able to see. We want to know. How should we live our lives? What are we to do with what we have? How should we build and maintain our relationships? What is God’s plan for us?
In this great hymn, we proclaim that our vision as Christians is simply Christ. Our most profound answer, our strongest shelter, our greatest wealth – all these things lie in the promises made to us through Christ himself. Ultimately, the desire of our heart is Christ and Christ alone.Instead of being afraid of making the wrong choices, we boldly declare that it is not our will, our questions, our power, but Christ’s. Could we be more counter-cultural than to say, “Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be my vision, o Ruler of all”?
Prayer
Christ, our hope, our all, instill in us the vision to see this world with new eyes and the courage to answer your call. Amen.