I'd Rather have Jesus

BIBLE REFERENCE:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. Matthew 4:19-22

But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Philippians 2:19-22

HYMN HISTORY:

George Beverly Shea was born into the home of fine Christian parents in Winchester, Ontario, Canada, on February 1, 1909. His father was a faithful minister of the gospel for the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and his mother was a strong spiritual and musical influence in his life. As young George was growing up in parsonages in New York and New Jersey, his friends and family became very much aware of his fine musical talents and full, resonant voice. He began to sing regularly in his father’s church as well as for services in other local churches. Following high school, George attended Houghton College in New York during 1928-29, but family financial problems caused him to leave after one year and take employment as a clerk in an insurance office in New York City. During this time, he lived with his parents while his father was pastoring in Jersey City. In his book, Songs That Touch the Heart, Bev Shea tells this story:

Once again Mother–my musical guardian–had apart. A lover of beauty, be it a flower, a bird, a poem, an ennobling quotation–whatever–Mother was a collector... she loved to share poetry and she always had some verse in hand copied from a book or clipped from a magazine. It was her practice of leaving such writing on the piano music rack which led to my writing “I’d Rather Have Jesus” when I was twenty years old. The same Sunday morning I read those wonderful words for the first time, I wrote music for them and used the song that same day in my father’s church service. Of course, Mrs. Rhea F. Miller is the catalyst. Without her inspiring lyrics, there would have been no song.... Over the years, I've not sung any song more than “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” but I never tire of Mrs. Miller’s heartfelt words.

During the nearly nine years that Shea worked for the Mutual of New York Life Insurance Company, he continued his vocal training and singing in churches and for local Christian broadcasts. One day a director of a network radio station heard him sing and arranged for him to audition for a national program with the Lynn Murray Singers. Bev was thrilled with the prospect of singing on a network radio program, of being heard by large numbers of people, and having a chance to make “big money” for a change. After passing the audition test, Bev Shea just didn't feel right about accepting this “once in a life-time” offer to be in secular work. “No” was strange word to such an offer, as positions such as these were rare during those depression days, and thousands of young singers would have leaped at such an opportunity.

On June 16, 1934, Bev married his teen-age sweetheart, Eram Scharfe, and together they raised two children. The family moved to Chicago. where Bev took a position on the staff of radio station WMBI. In June of 1944, Bev Shea realized his ambition to sing the gospel on a national radio program, “Club Time.” A well-known aluminum firm, headed by a devoted Christian businessman, Herbert J. Taylor, sponsored Shea’s program for the next several years, a program heard by thousands of listeners each week. Then during the 1940’s and 50’s, Shea was active, singing in large Youth for Christ rallies throughout America and Canada. And now for more than three decades, Bev Shea has ministered with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Team, around the world as well as on radio and television. In 1956, George Beverly Shea was given a honorary doctorate degree from Houghton College in recognition of his many years of effective Christian ministry.

The power that this song has had in influencing and changing lives for God will be fully evaluated only in eternity. There are countless testimonies by individuals whose lives have been changed by the singing of this one hymn:

A thousand grim marines sat on a South Pacific Island, during the days of World War II, listening to a gospel message punctuated with gunfire in the distance. When the chaplain sat down, a marine stood this feet to sing the closing hymn. As the shell-scarred palms swayed nearby, more than half of that company came forward to profess faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. The marine soloist, a former opera singer, had just concluded singing “I’d Rather Have Jesus...”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"For me to live is Christ."
--Philippians 1:21

The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt.

From the moment of the new and celestial birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for Him; to His glory we would live, and in defence of His gospel we would die; He is the pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character.

Paul's words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim and end of his life was Christ - nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life.

Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this idea? Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ?

Your business - are you doing it for Christ? Is it not done for self- aggrandizement and for family advantage?

Do you ask, "Is that a mean reason?" For the Christian it is. He professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another object without committing a spiritual adultery?

Many there are who carry out this principle in some measure; but who is there that dare say that he hath lived wholly for Christ as the apostle did? Yet, this alone is the true life of a Christian - its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up in one word - Christ Jesus.

Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in Thee and to Thee.

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