Over a hundred years ago the song “America” was sung for the first time at a fourth of July celebration in Boston. It has since been adapted as the National hymn. Oliver Wendell Holmes, a class mate of the author Samuel Smith, attributed the greatness of the song to its very first word, “My” a personal possessive pronoun which instantly strikes a responsive chord in every patriot’s heart. He said, “That put America in the hearts of the people, and because of it Sam Smith will live when Longfellow and Whittier and all the rest of us have gone into oblivion.”
God is like that. There are many people who know God only in a remote, objective, impersonal sense. They acknowledge Him as creator, but they have never acquainted themselves with Him so they can say, “My God.” Look at Thomas (Jn 20:25-28). He had sat at the feet of Jesus, listened to his marvelous words, witnessed His divine works. Yet he did not really know Him. For when Jesus was raised from the dead, he said, “Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails…..I will not believe.” “Reach hither thy finger,” Jesus urged, “and behold My hands……be not faithless, but believing”. Convinced, the doubter exclaimed, “My Lord and My God!”
What does it matter if the world be filled with wealth, if none of it belongs to you? What if all your friends enjoy good health, if yours is gone? What difference does it make if Christ is the Savior of all humanity, if he’s not your Savior? You can make Jesus your Lord and Savior by obeying the gospel. Then you can sing that great hymn, “My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine.”