I Have Found the Way

I have found the way that leads to endless day,
Yonder in the Glory-land.
And the road is bright for Jesus is the light,
And I’ll hold His guiding hand.

Chorus:
I have found the way (found the glory way).
I have found the way (found the gospel way).
Glory hallelujah (hallelujah),
I have found the way.

I will never fear while Jesus is so near,
I will bravely meet the foe.
Happy songs I’ll sing in honour to the King,
And to glory onward go.

To the journey’s end led by a Faithful Friend,
Never more in sin to roam
By the way called straight I’ll reach the Golden Gate
Of the soul’s Eternal Home.

Found on page 314 of the Redback Hymnal, I don’t recall singing this particular song growing up.  I came across it on a bluegrass album by Doyle Lawson and Quiksilver and, to be honest, was a little surprised that it was a hymn.  It is a great bluegrass song, but I had no idea that I would find it in a hymnal.  Here’s a link to the Doyle Lawson version:

When cutting and pasting the lyrics from Google, I came across an interesting difference in the words.  In verse three, my hymnal reads “led by a faithful friend,” but when I found the words online, the lyrics read “led by the Faithful friend.”  There is a big difference between “a friend” and “The Friend.”  I have some people that I truly consider great friends.  They are godly people.  They are there when I need them.  But they aren’t “the friend” that sticks closer than a brother.  The same is true for the title of this hymn.  There is a tremendous difference between “I have found the way” and “I have found a way.”  You see, “a way” can lead you to a life of pain and misery and despair.  “The Way” will ultimately lead you to Heaven.  “A way” is broad and leads to destruction.  “The way” is narrow, but leads to eternal life.

I pray today that you can testify that you have found “The Way.”  Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No man comes to the Father, but by me.” I am grateful that He showed me the way, and that I found the way.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• The road is bright for Jesus is the light – Scripture reminds us that “The Word” is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.  When we are in the Word and trusting the Spirit to illuminate the Scripture, I believe we can testify that Jesus is our light.  From a human perspective, it is very easy to feel like you are in the dark.  To not know where you are going.  But in the spiritual realm, we know that the steps of a righteous man and woman are ordered by the Lord.  We know that the Lord leads us to green pastures, beside still waters.  We know that He is the Light, and that our road can be bright.

• I will never fear while Jesus is so near – There are several hymns that reinforce this important truth.  The idea that if the Lord is near to us, we can endure anything.  Songs like “Jesus keep me near the cross” and “Near to the heart of God” are ones that are powerful because they remind us that when we are close to Him, we don’t have to worry or be afraid.  Psalm 23 reminds us “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me.  Your rod and your staff they comfort me.”

I have three brothers.  Yes, my Mom put up with 5 males in the 1,300 square foot house I grew up in.  With lots of brothers and not a lot of room in our house, our stuff tended to merge together and we pretty much shared everything we had.  Toys, clothes, and socks just to name a few.  We would occasionally get a gift or buy something with our own money and claim singular possession of the item.  It was inevitable though that we would leave it somewhere or lose it because we were boys.  I can recall my brothers finding something of mine and telling me words that I know you will all be familiar with: “finders keepers, losers weepers.”  When I was the finder, it was fun to share those words of wisdom with my brothers.  When on the rare occasion that I lost something, I hated to hear those words.

This hymn reminded me that the same is true with finding God.  When we find God (or when He finds us), we get to keep Him.  We become His children.  We are bought with a price and the “finders” really are the keepers.  Nothing can separate us from His love.  But those who refuse God and fail to accept His offer of salvation are truly losers.  They ultimately lose in this life, and the life to come.  They are losers and they are weepers.  Jesus said that there is a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth for those that aren’t covered by His blood.

I hope today that you can sing with the author of this hymn “I have found the way” but it is just as important that we make this our testimony to a lost world that hasn’t found the way.  We need to tell them about Jesus.  We need to point them to the cross.  We need to help them find the way, the only way.