Desiring to love Christ and obey him

Representative Text

Jesus my Lord, in thy dear name unite,
All that my heart calls great, or good, or sweet;
Whate'er inspires with wonder or delight,
In thee, thou fairest of ten thousand, meet.

Do I not love thee? ah my conscious heart
Nor boldly dares affirm, nor can deny;
O bid these clouds of gloomy fear depart,
With one bright ray from thy propitious eye!

Do I not love thee? can I then allow,
Within my breast pretenders to thy throne?
O take my homage, at thy feet I bow!
No other Lord my heart desires to own.

Take, take my passions in thy sovereign hand,
Refine and mould them with almighty skill;
Then shall I love the voice of thy command,
And all my powers rejoice to do thy will.

Thy love inspires the active sons of light,
With swift-wing'd zeal, they wait upon thy word;
O let that love, in these abodes of night,
Bid my heart glow to serve my dearest Lord!

Come love divine, my languid wishes raise!
With heavenly zeal this faint cold heart inflame,
To join with angels in my Saviour's praise,
Like them, obey his will, adore his name!

But can the mind, with heavy clay opprest,
To emulate seraphic ardour rise?
While sin pollutes her joys, forbids her rest,
How can she join the worship of the skies?

Yet he commands to love and to obey,
Whose hand sustains those happy spirits there
In him, my soul, who is thy guide, thy stay,
In him confide, to him commit thy care.

Jesus my Lord, O give me strength divine!
Then shall my powers in glad obedience move;
Receive the heart that wishes to be thine,
And teach, O teach me to obey and love!

Source: Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose #19

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Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Jesus, my Lord, in thy dear name unite
Title:	Desiring to love Christ and obey him
Author:	Anne Steele (1780)
Language:	English
Publication Date:	1780
Copyright:	This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before 1929.