It is interesting how you get a song on your mind and it won’t leave. You find yourself thinking about it all day and even singing it. It is all the better when it is a song with a great message. The song that has been on my Mind is not only appropriate for Easter but for every day of the year, “I Love to Tell the Story”.
This wonderful song was written by a young lady in her thirties who became seriously ill and was bedridden for over nine months. She used her time to write the story of Jesus in poetry. The final product had two parts. The first part called “The Story Wanted” had 50 verses and was dated January 29, 1866. The Second part entitled “The Story Told” was dated November 18, 1866.
Born in London, England in 1834, Arabella Katherine Hankey never wanted or needed for better things. Her father was a Banker, very prosperous and a devout Christian. She could have chosen her friends among the elite, instead her heart reached out to the poor and hungry people in the poorest sections of London. Not satisfied with the Anglican Church which did not permit members of the congregation to sing hymns, Katherine found herself caught up in the fires of revival sparked by John and Charles Wesley. The Great Awakening Movement provided hymns that everyone could sing and she was all for it.
Katherine had a missionary heart. She organized Sunday School Classes throughout London. She taught the Bible, wrote and published hymns and tracts. She volunteered to go to Africa as a nurse to assist her invalid brother who was a missionary there. She belonged to a group that taught that everyone had to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that they could commune with God through personal prayer.
Her song expressed the feelings of her heart. Hopefully, like Katherine we “love to tell the story of Jesus and His love.”
I love to tell the story,
‘Twill be my them in glory
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.
In His Love
Charles
