Reapers Never Retire

I sang those dear old hymns of Jesus' love
In the far-off days of my carefree youth;
They fanned my flames of zeal for God above;
To woo and win lost souls to saving truth!
The march of time has eaten all my years,
And rock-roll praise music prevails today;
These hamper my reaping, raising cruel fears,
That gone are my chances, more souls to sway!
But the fire instilled in me long ago
Burns brightly; the nearness of death but spurs
Me on, to use the time, more seed to sow;
Keep on keeping on, the Spirit adjures!
Soldiers of the cross do never retire,
But keep winning souls until they expire!

The greatest music ever composed by men was inspired by their love of God, and it was first performed in His worship in church. Great change has occurred in church music, perhaps because the worship leaders are led to believe that more of the lost will be won by the use pf modern praise choruses, because the genre is so like the rock-and-roll and rap music popular with today's youth. But, at best, it is a gamble: In the final analysis, will more souls be won for God by changing worship music to fit modern taste, even if some of the elder Christians are turned away by it? Will the praise chorus have a lasting effect on preserving the zeal for God in its devotees, such as hymns had upon the faithful oldsters? Only God can answer that question truthfully. Perhaps the hymn-lovers are remiss in not succeeding in developing and preserving their zeal for the changed genre of worship music; it is apparent that they have not been able to love it as they did hymn music. O, most cooperate quietly and harmoniously, by standing for long periods, singing and bouncing with the enthusiastic younger worshipers, but sadly they remember with sorrow the hymns of their youth.

I can only speak for myself. The hymns we sang in church in my growing-up days move melodiously through my mind 4 decades later. I love them; inspiration to serve God faithfully for me was born in the singing of those old songs, and it lives in me today more strongly even than in those long-ago days. The most important commandment Jesus ever gave to His followers is to tell the good news of free salvation to everyone we have contact with in this life, and we don't stop at age 65; it won't stop until we draw our last breath. We know that it is the Holy Spirit doing His job inside the unsaved person who actually does the most to convict him of guilt for living counter to the wishes of God; we also know that the gospel must be explained to him from a believer on the outside. We talk to people about the way they live because we love them; it is our desire to warn them that they must be forgiven by Christ Jesus to avoid condemnation. It's not easy, because most people interpret our intrusion as an insult; many times the reaction is, "I'm as good as you are!", and they certainly are. The believer, however, does not approach anyone thinking he is any better; far from it; he knows he is a sinner; he also knows that God has forgiven him of his sins. He is really saying, "Has God forgiven you yet?". because that's the important thing.