I am your hymnal.
Hold me with your hands.
Touch me with your eyes.
I think you’ll be surprised.
My pages will soften the hardships you face.
I’m a gift of God’s grace
that will set your faith to singing.
I’m bound to be enjoyed for years to come.
Yet, for years congregations have debated
(and sometimes berated) each other
simply over whether I should still belong in church.
But if they’d search me they would find
that I am not sectarian,
or contrarian to what true Christians seek.
The weak and those stronger,
the young and those older,
the new believer and the more mature
find their story in my pages.
And what is more,
I’m a link to the ages of those who lived before.
I’m an encyclopedia of Christian experience.
I’m a concordance of confession.
I’m a primer of praise.
I’m a diary of doctrinal truth.
I’m a one-volume library of devotion.
Handle me with care.
Handle me with prayer.
Handle me often.