A Gate Ajar

Oh, great master of my soul,

Creator of the universe,

With heaven as my one true goal,

I praise your name in song and verse.

How small am I, how great you are,

Yet so loving and so kind,

For you have left a gate ajar

That smallest man may, heaven, find.

Christ is that gate which stands ajar,

And, yea, will open wide,

That I no longer stand afar,

But, as He bids me, come inside.

Through the precious blood He shed

There on the brow of Calvary,

He has raised me from the dead,

No more in dreadful sin to be.

When from baptism's grave I rise,

No longer should I walk in sin.

But turn my face toward the skies;

Then will my new born life begin.

Thus I praise you, oh, my God,

For sending me your love

To turn away your chast'ning rod

That I may dwell in heav'n, above.

By L. B. Strawn

September 30 & October 1, 1985