Whether you’re having a bad day or going through a tough season in life – you can always count on God to put a hymn on your heart to lift your spirits.
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When is it Right to Die? – In this fold-out pamphlet, Joni Eareckson Tada addresses poignant end-of-life questions, taking into account the inexpressible value of every human soul created in the image of God. This resource provides a biblical framework, Scriptures, and guidance for individuals or families faced with questions around physician-assisted suicide, life-saving measures, and end-of-life challenges.
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SHAUNA: I’m Shauna with Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Thanks for listening today. So, Joni, we know that you and Ken are reading all the way through the Bible [just like you do every year]. And I’m wondering, do you have any new insights to share?
JONI: Well, actually, yes I do. And it’s a little unusual. Last Sunday morning I woke up with a hymn on my mind. Out of nowhere, it was an old one, a hymn I have not thought of in years. And as my helper was getting me ready for church, there I am singing “Glory to His name, glory to His name; there at the cross was the blood applied, glory to His name.” And my helper said, “Well, Joni, I’ve never heard you sing that song; where’s it from?” And I stopped and thought: “I don’t know,” I said, “It just came to mind when I woke up.” So, throughout the rest of my routine, I’m singing, “glory to His name.” Before Ken and I left for church that Sunday morning – as we always do, we read our Bible reading at the kitchen table together.
And that morning our schedule had us opening to the book of 1 Chronicles. I quietly groaned because I knew that the chapters assigned to us were filled with genealogies; everybody’s genealogy. Actually, the first nine chapters are mostly that, and I’ll be honest, it’s hard to get through everybody’s family tree. Going through names like Heber, and Aram, and Kedar, and all the other sons and grandsons of Ishmael – it’s not very exciting. But at least in the second chapter we read familiar names like Ruben, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, and the rest of the sons of Jacob. And exploring that family tree includes the sons of Judah, one of them called Er who was wicked and died, but his wife, Tamarthen married her father-in-law, Judah, who gave birth to Perez and – turn the page – and there we are into sons of David born in Hebron and then his sons born in Jerusalem. And Solomon and Rehoboam, and Abijah,and Ahaziah, Hezekiah, and more. And then around the third chapter of reading this line of kings, I start hearing in my head, “Glory to His name, glory to His name; there at the cross was the blood applied, glory to His name.” And I had to stop. Oh, my goodness, this is why God put that obscure hymn on my heart that morning. Glory to His name, the name of Jesus. These genealogies in 1 Chronicles may feel distant from the blood of Christ, but they quietly trace the very line through which the cross becomes possible. Especially the family trees of the tribe of Judah, the house of David –their descendants are the thread that leads directly to Jesus Christ. And without that preserved lineage, there is no Messiah rooted in history. You know, those genealogies are filled with some pretty wicked men, but it shows that the cross is not an abstract plan – because those genealogical names represent the very sorts of people Jesus Christ came to save.
And so, that Sunday morning after Ken and I finished our Bible reading with all those names, we went off to church in the van, with me in the back, “Glory to His name.”
SHAUNA: Oh, Joni, how good of God to put this hymn on your heart that very morning.
JONI: That’s right.
SHAUNA: Yes, glory to His name! The name that is above every name. It’s what we love doing here at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends