This Sunday we will be talking about God's call on our life, and how it should dominate us. Which means I need a vision for this so I can be rightly motivated and I can't help but to be drawn to the old hymn "Be Thou My Vision." Here are the lyrics:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

 For the Christian, true vision is an awareness of Jesus Christ in all of His fullness and power. Our relationship to the King of all creation is what truly defines us as people. The Gospel gives us our identity and meaning. If God is our treasure, then we no longer care about riches or "man's empty praise" as this hymn states so beautifully. A good modern translation of this song would be: "May everything else except what You are be nothing to me."

This isn't just a hymn of praise that people sing at church. Nor are we simply asking God for something when praying this hymn - it's more than that as well. This is a prayer of dedication, sacrifice, and passion. Instead of asking for something, or praising God, this hymn invokes a total sense of submission and commitment. It is powerful.
Nor is this person just dedicating part of his life to God. This is praying of complete dedication. The author cover's just about every aspect of his life and lays it down before God.

In short, this hymn is a way of praying, "God you are everything. Fill me up in every way possible. I give you my whole life, Take it and make it yours. Be my hope, my vision, my pride, my love, my heart - Be my everything."

"Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained." Proverbs 29:18a

Let your Vision be JESUS! See you Sunday.