50 - Break My Bonds

BREAK MY BONDS I am not praying for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine. John 17.9. As he was facing his life's end, Jesus Christ prayed for those who were about to torture him and put him to death, but he refused to pray for the world. So what should I think of those men who are known as decent and honest folk, and whom I have called my friends? Yet those who persecuted and murdered Jesus Christ were less hateful to him than those men to whom I once opened my heart in friendship. What could I expect, seeing my weakness in the presence of those friends, men who take pride in forgetting God, in treating religious devotion as weakness, and in neglecting all their Christian duties? Can I really think that I love God, and that I am not ashamed of his gospel, if I love the company of his enemies so much, and am afraid of displeasing them by showing that I fear God? O Lord, bear me up against the swirling current of the world, break my bonds, keep me far away from the tents of wickedness, join me in close union with those who love you.