Daily Word of Grace # 194 (December 11, 2020)
Several years ago I visited the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. Hank Williams (1923–1953) was undoubtedly one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 20th century. His hits like “Move It On Over”, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”, and “Hey Good Lookin’” are still classics. One of his biggest hits was “I Saw the Light” in which he described his conversion to Jesus Christ: “I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin. I wouldn’t let my dear savior in. Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night. Praise the Lord I saw the light. I saw the light, I saw the light, no more darkness, no more night. Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight. Praise the Lord I saw the light. Just like a blind man I wandered along. Worries and fears I claimed for my own. Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight. Praise the Lord I saw the light.” It’s a simple, beautiful, straightforward song about what can happen when someone lost in the darkness of sin experiences the real light of God’s real love. Tragically Hank Williams died when he was only 29, but on his gravestone at Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery is engraved: “PRAISE THE LORD. I SAW THE LIGHT”—and Jesus remains “the light of the world” (John 8:12).
Love and Prayers,
Dave