Here I raise my Ernie-neezer

Have you ever sung the song “Come Thou Fount”?  It’s a great song and has great lyrics but when I hit the second verse and immediately I am torn out of worship into the same thought process since the last time I sang this song.

What the HECK is an EBENEZER?

In my mind it is one of a couple things:

1.    A conch shell.  Used to summon the Leviathan from Job 41.

2.    The most literal…Ebenezer Scrooge.

3.    A stein…a large mug that holds beer…but this doesn’t fit the context of the song or the message of scripture.

Here’s the song:

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Here by Thy great help I've come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood.

I’ve read through some history to discover what an Ebenezer is and I came up with some cool stuff.  Ebenezer’s were first mentioned in 1 Samuel 7:12

            “12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,[a] saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

Ebenezer’s are stones or stacks of stones that are raised up to commemorate what the Lord has done.

I’ve raked my memory trying to think of when I’ve seen Ernie build something or make a strong effort to commemorate what the Lord has done but I’ve come up short.

            The only thing anywhere close to Ernie stacking stones to talk about what the Lord has done is his recent stack of stones he has placed on his fiancé Hannah’s left hand.

Here’s what I came up with:

            The point of these 7 blog posts are to bring to light all that the Lord has done in and through Ernie. 

That’s what I hope to do, to stack 7 blog posts aiming towards all that Christ has done in and through Ernie in my life.

Let’s go back to the song:

Ernie’s repetition of the phrase “His will, not mine” is a constant reminder of all that Jesus has done and is continuing to do.  He is someone who is whole-heartedly in tune with how God has created him and how he is wired.  Ernie is one of the handiest and most ingenuitive men I know and for that he knows it is entirely the way God has created him.

Jesus sought Ernie when a stranger, when he was wandering from the fold of God.

            -I remember one time when Ernie and I lived in the toolbox.  I took notice that his Bible had been sitting on his desk and it hadn’t moved in months.  I know that Ernie hadn’t been spending much face time with his Bible so I decided to give him a hint that he should read it more often.

Take 1: I moved it off of his desk and put it on top of his laundry on his bed.

            --Bible was moved back to desk

Take 2:  I moved it back to his bed and put it on his pillow

            --Moved to couch

Take 3: Moved it on his pillow with a note that simply read “read me”

            --He began to read every night

Please hear me when I say that I claim no responsibility for Ernie coming back to reading more scripture but it was awesome seeing the Lord woo him back to a loving relationship between the two of them.

Here’s blog 3 about Ernie…I hope to build him up and encourage him and reaffirm to him that I am a much man who knows Jesus so much more deeply because of his life.

                        --if he ever reads this.