Today, is the year anniversary of a person dear to me entering into heaven. I have been thinking of my Uncle John, and all my family who have gone on to Glory.

My uncle was a wonderful man, a Man of God, a preacher of the Word for decades. A great husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend. I have two terrific uncles, and I feel my life has been blessed by both.

Family is so important to me. When I was young, along with different combinations of sisters and cousins, I spent several weeks each summer with grandparents. Today, the paragraph from Spurgeon’s message is reminding me of my paternal grandmother through the words, I SAW HIM. Granny lived a spirit-filled life, and she taught us the same by being a great witness. She was also fun, a great cook, but instead of heating up the kitchen in the heat of mid-day, every afternoon for lunch we would have watermelon and ice cream Sundays for dessert. I have so many good memories of those hot summer days in the Tidewater area of Virginia.

One of my favorite memories is reliving the times I sat near Granny in church. Oh how my attitudes have changed! When I was a child I wasn’t all that thrilled about spending Wednesday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night in church service, but now I look back and wish I could sit there again and say hello to Sister Crowe, Brother Gibbons, and others who were kind and welcoming to my sister and me.

For some reason, I remember quite clearly sitting near my grandmother when the church sang the congregational song of, ‘My Savior First of All’, by Fanny Crosby. Granny would shut her eyes, blocking out the world, and honestly, when I think back, I almost remember her face glowing as she sang the chorus. I like to think of her spirit shining in just that way when she met her Savior as she left this world. Because of her wonderful witness to me, I know that she SAW HIM first of all.

“I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
And redeemed by His side I shall stand,
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
By the print of the nails in His hand.”
~ Fanny Crosby

For Granny’s Home-going service one of the suggestions for a hymn was ‘My Savior First of All,‘ and that is what we sang.

JOHN’S DOXOLOGY – C.H. SPURGEON

So, too, if we are “kings and priests,” it is Jesus who has made us so.

“Round the altar priests confess:If their robes are white as snow,
’Twas the Saviour’s righteousness
And his blood that made them so.”

Our royal dignity and our priestly sanctity are both derived from him. Let us not only behold the streams, but also consider the source. Bow before the blessed and only Potentate who doth encrown and enthrone us, and extol the faithful high-priest who doth enrobe and anoint us. See the divine actor in the grand scene, and remember that he ever liveth, and therefore to him should we render perpetual glory. John worships the Lord himself. His mind is not set upon his garments, his crowns, his offices, or his works, but upon himself, his very self. “I SAW HIM, says the beloved apostle, and that vision almost blotted out the rest. His heart was all for Jesus. The censer must smoke unto him, the song must rise unto him;— unto himself, unto his very self.