I Love To Tell The Story
I Love To Tell The Story
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
In 1866 a woman named Katherine Hankey wrote a poem in two parts. The first was called “The Story Wanted”. The second part was called “The Story Told”. The following year some of the lines from the poem were taken and put to music which gave birth to the hymn “I Love To Tell The Story”. I always loved to sing that hymn when I was going to church years ago when the old hymns were a staple. One of the reasons I loved it so much was because it reminded me of one of the most interesting things Jesus ever said.
In Luke 19 we see his version of Jesus’ triumphal entry a week before His crucifixion. Along with the familiar aspects of this event we see Jesus say something very impactful. As the disciples were crying out, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord”, the Pharisees (unsurprisingly) were not happy. They went to Jesus and told Him to rebuke them in order to silence them. Jesus’ response is very sobering. He said: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40). Embedded in this amazing statement is a very formidable truth. Want to hear it?
When it comes to our abilities…we are as useful to God as a box of rocks. Jesus was telling the Pharisees that He did not NEED people to cry out His praise. In fact, if these people were not crying out His praise, then the very rocks would do it instead. There are several takeaways here…but one we really need to understand. God does not need us…for anything. He does not need our talents…He does not need our abilities. He’s God. He has all of the abilities in the universe. He does not need us for anything. But the good news is much better…He desires us.
And when I think of that great hymn I mentioned in the first paragraph, it dawns on me that one of the things He desires for us to do is to tell the Story. What story? The Gospel. Each of the Synoptic Gospels ends the same way. They end with the Great Commission. The beginning of the first book after the Gospels (Acts) begins the same way. The way? Go and tell. The same God that clearly tells us that He does not NEED us for anything then goes on to tell us that He has entrusted us with the most precious thing in the entire universe. The Gospel. Every single book in the New Testament contains the message that we are to talk to a dying people about the only thing that can save them from that death: The Gospel.
He doesn’t make us do this…He lets us do this. He trusts us to take this amazing, lifesaving message to the people who desperately need to hear it. It is the primary reason why Believers stay alive in this planet. Think about it. When a couple adopts a child from an orphanage today, the first thing that happens is that they take them to their new home. There are numerous passages in the New Testament that describe God saving us as God adopting us. Ephesians 1:5 clearly states: “He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.”
But here’s the thing. Unlike us, when He adopts us, He does not immediately take us Home. He leaves us in this world. Why? I’m so glad you asked that question. He obviously assures us that when we die we will be with Him in heaven for all eternity…but only after we die. He leaves us here for one main reason. To tell people the Good News. Though He does not need us for anything…He allows us the privilege and the honor communicate the Gospel. He trusts us with that amazing message. We don’t have to tell people about Jesus…we get to tell people about Jesus. In Romans 10:14-15 we see Paul talk about that privilege: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Look at the verbiage. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news”. In a time where people were either walking barefoot or in sandals in nothing but dirt, I can’t believe many people thought of feet as beautiful. Even the choice of this verbiage denotes God’s desire for our availability and not our ability. He didn’t say: How beautiful are the people who spread the Gospel. He pointed out the beauty of the feet. The willingness to be available to explain the Gospel to a lost and dying world is our primary reason to exist. If it were not, God would have taken us Home the moment He adopted us.
The hymn states: I Love To Tell The Story. Do you? Do you, really? You possess the only truly lifesaving message available to a hurting world. And God entrusts you with that message. It is imperative in any way that we can to love to tell the story.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
In 1866 a woman named Katherine Hankey wrote a poem in two parts. The first was called “The Story Wanted”. The second part was called “The Story Told”. The following year some of the lines from the poem were taken and put to music which gave birth to the hymn “I Love To Tell The Story”. I always loved to sing that hymn when I was going to church years ago when the old hymns were a staple. One of the reasons I loved it so much was because it reminded me of one of the most interesting things Jesus ever said.
In Luke 19 we see his version of Jesus’ triumphal entry a week before His crucifixion. Along with the familiar aspects of this event we see Jesus say something very impactful. As the disciples were crying out, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord”, the Pharisees (unsurprisingly) were not happy. They went to Jesus and told Him to rebuke them in order to silence them. Jesus’ response is very sobering. He said: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40). Embedded in this amazing statement is a very formidable truth. Want to hear it?
When it comes to our abilities…we are as useful to God as a box of rocks. Jesus was telling the Pharisees that He did not NEED people to cry out His praise. In fact, if these people were not crying out His praise, then the very rocks would do it instead. There are several takeaways here…but one we really need to understand. God does not need us…for anything. He does not need our talents…He does not need our abilities. He’s God. He has all of the abilities in the universe. He does not need us for anything. But the good news is much better…He desires us.
And when I think of that great hymn I mentioned in the first paragraph, it dawns on me that one of the things He desires for us to do is to tell the Story. What story? The Gospel. Each of the Synoptic Gospels ends the same way. They end with the Great Commission. The beginning of the first book after the Gospels (Acts) begins the same way. The way? Go and tell. The same God that clearly tells us that He does not NEED us for anything then goes on to tell us that He has entrusted us with the most precious thing in the entire universe. The Gospel. Every single book in the New Testament contains the message that we are to talk to a dying people about the only thing that can save them from that death: The Gospel.
He doesn’t make us do this…He lets us do this. He trusts us to take this amazing, lifesaving message to the people who desperately need to hear it. It is the primary reason why Believers stay alive in this planet. Think about it. When a couple adopts a child from an orphanage today, the first thing that happens is that they take them to their new home. There are numerous passages in the New Testament that describe God saving us as God adopting us. Ephesians 1:5 clearly states: “He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.”
But here’s the thing. Unlike us, when He adopts us, He does not immediately take us Home. He leaves us in this world. Why? I’m so glad you asked that question. He obviously assures us that when we die we will be with Him in heaven for all eternity…but only after we die. He leaves us here for one main reason. To tell people the Good News. Though He does not need us for anything…He allows us the privilege and the honor communicate the Gospel. He trusts us with that amazing message. We don’t have to tell people about Jesus…we get to tell people about Jesus. In Romans 10:14-15 we see Paul talk about that privilege: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Look at the verbiage. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news”. In a time where people were either walking barefoot or in sandals in nothing but dirt, I can’t believe many people thought of feet as beautiful. Even the choice of this verbiage denotes God’s desire for our availability and not our ability. He didn’t say: How beautiful are the people who spread the Gospel. He pointed out the beauty of the feet. The willingness to be available to explain the Gospel to a lost and dying world is our primary reason to exist. If it were not, God would have taken us Home the moment He adopted us.
The hymn states: I Love To Tell The Story. Do you? Do you, really? You possess the only truly lifesaving message available to a hurting world. And God entrusts you with that message. It is imperative in any way that we can to love to tell the story.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
Recent
Archive
2025
April
August
September
2024
January
February
March
July
August
November
December
2023
July
August
September
October
November
Categories
no categories
1 Comment
Excellent reminder to share the gospel with those who would have no clue to be able to find it on their own; I need to get better at that, Lord.