A Hymn of Consecration
Miss Frances Ridley Havergal was visiting a home in Cavendish Square, London, where the aristocracy live. She was to be a guest for five days. Knowing that several members of this family were not rejoicing Christians, she made a prayer, “Lord, give me all in this house.” The way was opened through her singing and she entranced everyone in this home. The father, mother, children and servants were all brought clear into the Kingdom of joy and peace before she left. On the last night of her visit she was too happy to sleep, and spent the greater portion of it in meditation and prayer. Then it was that there came to her the hymn which she wrote with buoyant feeling,
“Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee,”
ending with the line, “Ever, only, all for Thee.”
The energy and endurance of this singing faith come from the Holy Spirit. I quote a description of a singular event in Heidelberg, Germany, written for The Christian Advocate by Professor J. Newton Davies. It might be called
Kindling the Torches at the Bonfire
“On a June evening, the student corporations of the university, a thousand strong, assembled on the banks of the Neckar to celebrate the coming of summer. Each student carried in his hand an unlighted torch. At a given signal, they marched, singing, across the old bridge, and up the steep path to the Bismarck tower, where a bonfire blazed. At this bonfire each man lighted his torch, and then continued his march to the valley below. The thousand burning torches glinting through the dark fir trees were an unforgettable sight.
“In Jerusalem, at Pentecost, the fires of a religious enthusiasm were kindled, at the blaze of which a small band of Christians lighted the unlit torches of their personalities. With loins girt, and lamps lit, that gallant group of torchbearers set forth, singing songs of victory and triumph, to herald the advent of a New Day. As we today, nineteen centuries afterward, look back on their astonishing victories, we cannot but fervently join in Charles Wesley’s prayer:
‘O Thou, who camest from above,