Jesus I Love Thee

Even while a teenager William Featherston seemed to have unusual spiritual maturity. Unlike many his age, he realized how important Jesus was for his life. Born in Montreal on this day in 1846, he was just sixteen when he wrote the words to the hymn, “My Jesus, I Love Thee.”

Revealing his personal priorities, he wrote, “My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine; for Thee all the follies of sin I resign. My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; if ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.” He realized that Jesus had loved him first, and died for his sins. He had “purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree. I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow.”

When writing this hymn, Featherston did not know that he would die less than ten years later, when he was only twenty-six. But he wrote that his love of Jesus was not limited to this life: “I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death, and praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath; and say when the death dew lies cold on my brow, if ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”

He could picture himself spending eternity with Jesus: “In mansions of glory and endless delight, I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright; I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow.”

Today, think about what Jesus means to you. He died that you might have eternal life. And He loves you with an everlasting love. Right now, let your heart be stirred with a new love for your Savior.