With the break of dawn of another year, here,
Lord, let me not stop my ear
but incline it to thee with reverential fear
for your word says, “He who has an ear, let him hear.”
“Let all that you do, be done with love” is your command
and when I see you face to face, and you demand
an account of my life, as I enter heaven’s gate
May I be able to sum it as “Only Love, no hate.”
To love you first, for you first loved me,
May all the days of this year and my life be
and to love fellow men as I would myself
locking all four forms of pride and hate, in a keyless shelf.
Your promise to our firstborn
was that you will always watch over him and keep him from all harm.
To our second born, you avowed
that with unfailing kindness and an everlasting love, have you him, loved.
My beloved received this affirmation
that you have set her feet on The Rock solid foundation.
and to me, O LORD, you pledged
that you are a shield around me and it is you who lifts up my head.
Faith in you I have, and in it, let me stand fast,
Eagerly awaiting your return, my hope in you, I cast,
But the greatest of these that remain, is love, that is, charity
for without it, despite all my gifts, I must file for bankruptcy.
Let me learn to forgive, and by that set myself free
from the prison of hate that jails no one else but me
and to owe no one nothing, save love, is my plea
Only Love, no hate, no hate, Love Only.
With the break of dawn of another year, here
Lord, let me heed to your word, with my mind clear
To love like you did sacrificially and do all things with charity
Only Love, no hate, no hate, Love Only!
From the Author’s/Poet’s Desk:
As we arrived at the beginning of a new year, reminiscing on the year gone past and looking forward to the year ahead,this poem is requisition of our hearts, that in the coming year, my family (Sangeetha, Reuben, Ittai and me), have love, only love, in our lives.During the watchnight service on December 31st, at the Austin Christian Fellowship of India (ACFI), my wife, Reuben and I picked promise cards for each one in the family and the cards we picked were as follows:
For Reuben (our first born): The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (Psalm 121:7-8)
For Ittai (our second born): The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3)
For Sangeetha (my beloved): He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalm 40:2)
For Mano: But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. (Psalm 3:3)
This poem references those promises so that it can remind us of God’s promise to each one of us personally. Additionally, by way of voting (poll), the theme that was picked for the ACFI church was “Let all your things be done with charity” taken from 1 Corinthians 16:14, which is also referenced in the poem as a reminder.
It is written with pronouns such as ‘I’, and ‘me’ to make it personal to the reader. I reckon you substitute your name or your family’s wherever appropriate to personalize this poem for yourself and be edified.
An explanation of the poem in square brackets has been given below. There are some sections of the poem that may need further explanation, and if you need any clarifications or have comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. God bless.
With the break of dawn of another year, here,
[January 1st, 2014]
Lord, let me not stop my ear
but incline it to thee with reverential fear
[Lord, let me listen to your voice respectfully]
for your word says, “He who has an ear, let him hear.”
[and heed to the voice of the Holy Spirit of God; Revelation 3:22]
“Let all that you do, be done with love” is your command
[Church theme verse – 1 Corinthians 16:14]
and when I see you face to face, and you demand
[1 Corinthians 13:12]
an account of my life, as I enter heaven’s gate
[Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10]
May I be able to sum it as “Only Love, no hate.”
To love you first, for you first loved me,
[Matthew 22:37; Matthew 6:33; 1 John 4:19]
May all the days of this year and my life be
[Psalm 90:12]
and to love fellow men as I would myself
[Mark 12:31]
locking all four forms of pride and hate, in a keyless shelf
[The four forms of pride are pride of education, pride of beauty, pride of authority and pride of wealth]
Your promise to our firstborn
was that you will always watch over him and keep him from all harm.
[Reuben’s promise card – Psalm 121:7-8]
To our second born, you avowed
that with unfailing kindness and an everlasting love, have you him, loved.
[Ittai’s promise card – Jeremiah 31:3]
My beloved received this affirmation
that you have set her feet on The Rock solid foundation.
[Sangeetha’ s promise card – Psalm 40:3]
and to me, O LORD, you pledged
that you are a shield around me and it is you who lifts up my head.
[My promise – Psalms 3:3]
Faith in you I have, and in it, let me stand fast,
[1 Corinthians 16:14]
Eagerly awaiting your return, my hope in you, I cast,
[Revelation 22:20]
But the greatest of these that remain, is love, that is, charity
for without it, despite all my gifts, I must file for bankruptcy.
[1 Corinthians 13:1-3]
Let me learn to forgive, and by that set myself free
from the prison of hate that jails no one else but me
[Ephesians 4:32]
and to owe no one nothing, save love, is my plea
Only Love, no hate, no hate, Love Only.
[Romans 13:8]
With the break of dawn of another year, here
Lord, let me heed to your word, with my mind clear
[Romans 12:1-2]
To love like you did sacrificially and do all things with charity
[Ephesians 5:25]
Only Love, no hate, no hate, Love Only!
On a deeper note, the Bible says that God is Love and Jesus is God, which means Jesus is Love – He is Love personified and so “Only Love” also means “Only Jesus.”
