Christ in Me

Christ be beside me; Christ be before me;
Christ be behind me, King of my heart.
Christ be within me; Christ be below me;
Christ be above me, never to part.

Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me, shield in the strife.
Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising, Light of my life.

Christ be in all hearts thinking about me;
Christ be on all tongues telling of me.
Christ be the vision in eyes that see me;
in ears that hear me Christ ever be.

This beautiful song, “Christ Be Beside Me,” was taken from some writings attributed to St Patrick.

Even in our generation, the words of this song should be our goal.  It is our desire that Christ might be our all in all—the only thing we live for.  Indeed, it is all about Christ!

Yet, if we want to be transformed into His image; if we want Him to be a part of our every move, then we must draw close to Him.  We must deepen our relationship with Him.

Have you ever noticed that when you spend time around your best friend, you start to act like him or her?  I have found that I have the strange ability to unconsciously adopt the speaking patterns of those I am around.  It’s not like I even try to talk like them, it just comes naturally.  I remember being around someone who always sang songs whenever he was doing anything, and I found myself starting to do the same.  I have friends who, whenever praised, always give glory to God.  I have noticed that that has become part of my vocabulary as well.

So you see, we become like the people we spend time with.  The Bible supports this idea.  Proverbs 13:20 says, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

In the same way, we also become like Christ by spending time with Him.  It is almost as if His character rubs off on us.  2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

As we behold the glory of God through Bible reading and meditation, we too will be transformed into His image.  Without even knowing it, we will become like Christ.  We will find that our speech patterns change.  More and more often, our prayers will be filled with Scripture.  Our words will be a reflection of the love of Christ.  Our actions will point to His.  When we chose to place Christ in our hearts and on our minds, we will be transformed.  We will find that...

Christ [is] in all hearts thinking about me;
Christ [is] on all tongues telling of me.
Christ [is] the vision in eyes that see me;
in ears that hear me Christ ever [is].

Oh that each of us might be completely transformed by His image!  That He might be beside us, before us, and the King of our heart!