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OW as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. 19 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. 20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. (Mark 1:16-20)
This hymn is written by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm (1866-1960), a minister of the Methodist Church South, in 1897. Mr. Chisholm wrote hundreds of other hymns including ‘Great in Thy Faithfulness, O God my Father.’ It is not possible for mortals, such as we are, to be just like Jesus who was sinless and perfect in every way. But unless we are aiming for that higher mark in Him, we will certainly fall far too short of the goal. The tune is the same title as the hymn and is the work of the same author.
Oh to be like Jesus
Oh! to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Refrain
Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Oh! to be like Thee, full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinner to find.
Refrain
Oh! to be like Thee, lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer, others to save.
Refrain
Oh! to be like Thee, Lord, I am coming,
Now to receive th’ anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing,
Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine.
Refrain
Oh! to be like Thee, while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love,
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
1. Oh! to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, This is my constant longing and prayer; Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear. The walk of the Christian must be very close to the footsteps of Jesus. His stride may be too wide for us to fit our steps thereto precisely, but, if we are committed fully to Him, we must follow as closely as our feeble members permit. Our lives must be a constant prayer and longing in search of that better country – we cannot be satisfied with the world of darkness that shall surely perish at the last. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:14-16) Unless we forsake all this world has to offer and follow Him who can offer all of what Heaven can offer, we will fail on the march to the Narrow Way.
2. Oh! to be like Thee, full of compassion, Loving, forgiving, tender and kind, Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, Seeking the wand’ring sinner to find. There is one way we can actually be like Jesus in both character and disposition. We can follow Him so closely that we attain the mark set before us in Scripture and be admitted to the Gates of Splendor at last. Then we will be much like him in those qualities of character mentioned. COMPASSION is a powerful word! It is a function of sacrificial love that compels our consciences to respond to the hurt and need of others such as widows, orphans, family, and friends whose predicament requires our care and assistance. Those who are afflicted with disease are in need of our love, comfort and assistance; but the most deadly of all diseases often goes unaddressed, even by loving Christians. To which disease do I make reference? Why, it is the disease of sin which kills finally and eternally.
3. Oh! to be like Thee, lowly in spirit, Holy and harmless, patient and brave; Meekly enduring cruel reproaches, Willing to suffer, others to save .The greater danger to the soul of man comes not from external influences we face, but the internal weaknesses that are borne of pride and greed. Can we sacrifice our burning thirst by sharing a cool glass of water to a child that is perishing? Can we put the well-being of others above our own selfish desires? The Second of the Great Summary of the Law of Commandments is to love our neighbors as ourselves. Though a very simply sentence to speak, that sentence is a very lofty one to reach. We should not share our worn and ragged garments with the poor, but rather our finest threads of our wardrobe. That would be equal to loving our neighbors as ourselves. Christ presented us with the greatest and most charitable example of this last Godly principle by dying in our stead on the cross. What an impossible example He set for us to exemplify.
4. Oh! to be like Thee, Lord, I am coming, Now to receive th’ anointing divine; All that I am and have I am bringing, Though we are endowed with the greatest gifts of Heaven in our salvation, security, and comfort, yet, we still must bring our all to the Lord. He feeds us on the Bread of Heaven by the shores of Galilee, but He expects us to bring our own fish to compliment those He has already elected. The fish we bring are the souls to whom we have shared the Gospel. We must be the anointed fishers of men. How can we bear to stand before the Lord on the Last Day alone and without our mothers, our fathers, our sisters, our brothers, our friends, and our neighbors?
5. Oh! to be like Thee, while I am pleading, Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love, Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling, Fit me for life and Heaven above. When our sinfully dead souls are quickened by the Holy Ghost, our hearts are possessed by Christ and made alive as His Temple not made with hands. There is one only baptism into life, and God bestows His Holy spirit in profound measure at the moment of His grant of grace – a gift made secure from before the foundation of the world. The old Wilderness Tabernacle was an ugly structure when viewed from without, but within was furnished with beautiful golden and silken provisions. That is the character of the Christian. We might compare the genuine Christian with a silver dish of pure silver. There are other dishes that can be made to look precisely like the real silver dish by the hands of the craftsman by coating the brass of iron dish with silver. They look precisely alike and cannot be differentiated simply by appearance, or even casual use. But over time, the silver will maintain its nature and glitter while the iron or cheap metal of the imposter will wear through and reveal the false nature of the imposter dish.
Refrain
Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art; Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart. Just as currency of the political realm, the Christian must bear the seal and coat of arms of the divine Sovereign of his soul. That seal will bear the likeness and genuine character of the issuing authority. We love thy Word O God! That means we love His Law as well. But that Law is no longer written on Tables of Stone to be easily broken by an irate Moses – the Lord and Redeemer has written His Law upon the soft sinews of the heart with the indelible ink of Divine Love. That love cannot be contained by the heart, but becomes an overflowing fountain to refresh every thirst around us.
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