Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV).
I listen to worship music while I write Interruptions. I don’t have a playlist. I let the algorithms of YouTube® find my songs.
Recently while writing an Interruption, a song popped up with the ad 79yrs & You Must Hear Her Worship. Since the almighty algorithms told me to listen, I interrupted my writing Interruptions to click on the link and listen.
And listened, and listened, and listened, and listened.
I was stuck on the song. I’ve listened to it every morning for a week and am listening to it now while I write this Interruption.
So let me encourage you (this is Pastor Grant and not the All-Knowing YouTube Algorithm) that you must listen to this song.
The song is a duet with Stephen McWhirter and Vivian Lee James – the 79-year-old woman.
Describing himself on his YouTube channel, Stephen says, “I was a meth addict/wounded preacher’s kid who had a radical encounter with Jesus, over 20 years ago, and haven’t looked back since.”
McWhirter wrote the song “Whole Heart” to sing with Vivian Lee James.
In Stephen’s description of this song, he writes about Vivian, “She was a singer and recording artist in New York for over six decades but now she sings for Jesus. She is now one of the most joyful people I have ever met.”
Both Vivian and Stephen came to know Jesus later in life. The title of the song implies what they felt after experiencing the grace of a forgiving God.
I love these lyrics…
Everything I am and all I’m not.
You can have it all every part.
It feels like it’s not enough.
But all of me is all you want.
So I give you my whole heart, whole heart.
Lord I give you my whole, whole heart.
Lord Jesus, we, too, give you our whole heart. And the song teaches another essential message:
You’re word says you will never leave.
To the very end you’ll be with me.
It feels like you gave too much.
But on that cross you showed your love.
And You gave me Your whole, whole heart.
Lord, you gave me Your whole heart!
Jesus gave us His whole heart, and all He wants from us is our whole heart. This song, sung by a 79-year-old woman, has a testimony of learned-through-the-years truth that echoes through her voice.
You must listen to this song.