Tune in as Joni talks about the hymn “Jesus Paid it All.” It lives as a lovely memory in her mind. Singing hymns around the office can always be a great form of encouragement to others around you.
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SHAUNA: This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Aren’t you glad that Jesus paid it all? Listen to Joni’s song now and be blessed.
(Joni sings:)
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed in small”
Child of weakness, watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all.
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
JONI: Oh, that’s one of my favorite hymns to sing whenever I wheel up and down the long ramp that winds around our chapel here at the Joni and Friends International Disability Center. I mean, every morning and evening when I wheel up that ramp to my office, or when I wheel down it to leave in the late afternoon, I love to sing a hymn. To me it just sounds nice echoing off the walls and the ceiling of our large lobby, and because so many of my co-workers; they work in alcoves on the second floor near the ramp, it’s really nice to hear a couple of them always kind of chime in with a little bit of harmony.
But the other evening when I was singing this hymn going down the ramp, all of a sudden, I heard more than just one or two voices, I heard a whole chorus of voices. Nearing the chapel, I looked up and there, lining the glass railing on the second floor, were about six or seven co-workers of mine, all standing up singing along with me. It was so beautiful – kind of like a flash mob – you know? I never expected such a thing! And what was really cool, is that a couple of other co-workers getting out of the elevator on the lobby level to go home; when they came out of the elevator, they too, they paused and sang this hymn along with us. It was a moment – wow!
Psalm 134 tells us to “lift up our hands and worship the Lord in the sanctuary.” And I will add – it sure is fun when you live in a Christian workplace where you can do that also, without fear, raise your voice in a spontaneous song of praise in the workplace. It’s what happens here at Joni and Friends, and I don’t know, it may account for why our co-workers always vote this ministry as a best Christian workplace every year. I don’t know – we just sing a lot!
Now I don’t know where you work [and it may well not be in a Christian organization]; you could be working in your home, you could be walking down the hallways of a college dorm; you could be standing at your kitchen sink, or waiting in line in the grocery store or pharmacy. May I encourage you to [if you dare, if you are brave enough] hum a hymn, or even sing it softly under your breath, because there are people around you listening [maybe some of them are Christians] who need a refreshing word; even those who do not follow Jesus, they need encouragement. It really can be theirs for a song, your song, and no better hymn is there to sing than this wonderful assurance that Jesus really has paid it all!
SHAUNA: You know friend, I don’t need a wheelchair, but I always use the ramp here at Joni and Friends. And today when I’m heading down that ramp, ready to go home, I think I’ll make this hymn the hymn I’ll sing: “Jesus Paid it All.” I hope you’ll find yourself singing that song today, too. God has granted us so great a salvation in Jesus Christ; it is truly something to sing about! God commands it! So, sing a new song unto the Lord, and visit us today at joniradio.org. Again that’s joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends