Arrested by Love

I was alone, far from peace and comfort; a sheep who strayed a long way from home. The grass seemed greener to my blind eyes. Who was I to judge? All I had known was death and darkness. My deaf ears gave no meaning to the rushing river as I conceived it to be a delightful stream. The tempest roared and pulled me under. Further and further, I wandered and was pushed away. Lost. Sick. Dead.

Yet He came for me, my Good Shepherd. He ran after me. No greater love will I ever know than that He died for me. For His love is as strong as death and fierce as the grave. My blinded eyes were made to see. My deaf ears were made to hear. My dead soul was awakened and my tongue loosed to sing praises to the Almighty.

He claims me and He calls me. I no longer live in sin. I live to worship the risen King. Arrested by death, no longer I am. Seized by life, I worship my Lord. For I am arrested by Love's tender hold. Though I fall, I confess my sins, for He is faithful and just to forgive. Trials and tempests still beat upon my soul. But by His power, I shall endure.

One day, I will see Him who from death has rescued me. I will bow down before the throne and at His feet. With ten thousand angels and millions of saints, I will lift my voice with the congregation and sing, "Worthy is the Lamb!"

Yet none of it was of my own. For my Savior, in His love, seized me while I wandered away. I continue by Your power still until that final day when Love arrests my spirit from this earth. There, my eyes will be held by mercy's sweet gaze as my Lord, my God, wipes tears from my face.