Dale Ralph Davis, Columbia, South Carolina

I wouldn’t like being abandoned on a desert island and I don’t think I would fare especially well.  I am a Christian, but I am not optimistic by nature. For one thing, I don’t like the sea — I’d much rather be left on a remote mountain. But one can’t always choose one’s geography!  My selections below would, I think, sort of control the problem, that is, keep it from being as bad as it could be. Analogy: Say you use the loo in your home and that perhaps someone had used it before you and had used too much toilet tissue at one time in the bowl.  You finish and flush the loo and, to your surprise and stress, see that instead of going down, the water and everything else is rising and backing up and, momentarily, will be spilling over in an awful mess.  But suddenly you remember there is a small item called a shut-off valve under the tank, and you quickly stoop down, turn it clockwise and the water ceases to rise. That doesn’t solve the larger problem but it controls it for the mean-time. In short, it helps immensely. So for my desert-island—these Scriptures, hymn and companion may not solve the dilemma, but should help in the mean-time!

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory… Psalm 63

I guess I might want Psalm 63 since David was apparently in a similar type situation when he wrote it:  O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Actually, there is no ‘as’ in the Hebrew — David really is in a dry & weary land — the wilderness of Judah.  He also says that he had such avid desires after God Himself when he was ‘in the sanctuary’ in a normal worship situation. But David’s longing for Yahweh himself, his unrelenting appetite for God, would, I should hope, keep my gaze fixed of what mattered above all else.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

I think I might opt for J. C. Ryle, the 19^th century Church of England minister who ended his days as Bishop of Liverpool. One doesn’t always meet with 19^th century folks who write in short, clear, pungent sentences like Ryle did. His seven volumes of Expository Thoughts on the Gospels are a treasure and still in print. I think I’d like to have Ryle around because he would remember a lot of the stuff he wrote in Expository Thoughts and so would be a human means of sustaining me on the word while on that Desert Island.

Which song would you take to the island?

Oh, I think I should want William Gadsby’s, Immortal Honours Rest on Jesus’ Head. I like to sing it to the tune ‘Toulon’.  I came upon this hymn several years back in a Welsh hymnbook, ‘Christian Hymns.’ It captures the full sufficiency of Jesus.

Immortal honours rest on Jesus’ head,

my God, my portion, and my living Bread;

in him I live, upon him cast my care;

he saves from death, destruction and despair.

He is my refuge in each deep distress,

the Lord my strength and glorious righteousness.

Through floods and flames he leads me safely on,

and daily makes his sovereign goodness known.

My every need he richly will supply,

nor will his mercy ever let me die;

in him there dwells a treasure all divine,

and matchless grace has made that treasure mine.

O that my soul could love and praise him more,

his beauties trace, his majesty adore,

live near his heart, upon his bosom lean,

obey his voice and all his will esteem.

James Allan, Dowlais

It is a challenge to select a handful of bible verses to take to a desert island. It is also a great opportunity and humbling privilege to reflect on God’s grace and blessing over a period of time.

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22

When I was on camp as a 10-year-old boy, Terry Williams (Bethel, Nelson) was the chaplain for the week; and being ‘in Adam’ or ‘in Christ’ was the week’s theme. I’m not sure whether I really grasped Romans chapter 5 that week, nor the doctrine of inherited guilt. However, one thing did become clear – a person is either ‘in Adam’ or ‘in Christ’. Mr Williams said, “There is no sitting on the fence.” I knew I was in Adam – but I wanted to be in Christ.

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14

In my first year of secondary school, my father had left a dull looking hardback book out in the house. It was Holiness by J.C. Ryle. I began to flick through the pages. Commenting on Hebrews 12:14 at the beginning of chapter 3, Ryle wrote: “The text which heads this page opens up a subject of deep importance…It suggests a question which demands the attention of all professing Christians: are we holy? Shall we see the Lord?” I was terrified. Was I a Christian? I didn’t feel very holy. Over the next few years I was bothered tremendously by the thought of my sin.

…having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. 2 Timothy 3:5

  

In my mid-teens, I sat in a packed church hall, listening to a preacher expound 2 Timothy 3:1-5. As I listened, I was convinced that I was guilty of every sin listed in those verses. The sermon did not provide much relief for my awakened conscience. I tossed and turned that night before the gospel I had always known as a child became real to me. I knew now that only Christ had given me all I needed. I sighed the deepest sigh of relief I had ever sighed.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:8-9

My Sunday School career was not hugely successful. I was never a prolific memoriser of verses. However, in my mid-teens someone set me the challenge of learning Romans 5:8-9. These verses enabled me to share my faith and would be in my mind when explaining the gospel to others. They were the verses preached at our wedding and are now framed and on my living room wall.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Ephesians 1:3

This verse was instrumental in developing my understanding of Christian experience. As a student, I read a book called Christian Experience, by a 20^th century Free Church of Scotland minister, Donald MacDonald. I remember hoping for a semi-mystical book, outlining how the felt presence of God could be cultivated. What I discovered was a book largely about doctrine. At the same time, I was experiencing a growing affection for the book of Ephesians. Chapter 1 verse 3 taught me that I have already been blessed “in Christ with every spiritual blessing.” Chapter 1 describes the believer’s election before the foundation of the world, their adoption, their redemption through Christ’s blood and their sealing with the promised Holy Spirit. I came to understand that if I have already been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing, the nature of my Christian experience is plumbing the depths of what I already possess in Christ. I still feel I’m only paddling up to my ankles and there remain great depths to be known.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Romans 6:5

Every day I am conscious of a real battle with sin. I have desires that should be resisted and my battle with sin does not seem to have got any easier. Romans chapter 6 has helped. It tells me I am united to Christ. As a believer, I am joined to Him – what has happened to Him has happened to me. I have died with Him so that my body of sin might be brought to nothing. I have been raised with Christ, to new life in Him. This understanding has been foundational in my daily battle. As I seek to obey Romans 6:12, “Let not sin reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions,” I do so against the background of the transformation that Romans 6 explains. I have powers that I did not have before because I am a new creation – the ‘old man’ is crucified. God has made me a new creature and possessed me with resources, capacities and abilities I did not have before.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

At university, I read Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot. The book is her biography of her husband, the missionary Jim Elliot, killed aged 29 by Auca Indians in Ecuador in 1956. Later, I bought his journals and if I’m honest, as I read them, I was not always sure what he was talking about. But I remember thinking there was a loveliness about his life. For much of the book, he is away from home at college – so was I for the first time. His life was single-minded in its service to Christ. Some words he penned are well-known, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” I wanted to imitate him in my service to Christ. There seemed an attractiveness about his devotion to Christ. It made any other way of living seem completely foolish. So, I’d like to spend time with him. I could also ask him what he was on about in the bits of his journals I didn’t understand.

Which song would you take to the island?

As a young Christian, initially I struggled with the doctrine of election. In time, I embraced it. The bible clearly taught it and how could someone as sinful as me choose Christ? I love how verse 4 of the hymn below describes being “lost in holy wonder”.

Sovereign grace o’er sin abounding,

Ransomed souls, the tidings swell;

’Tis a deep that knows no sounding;

Who its breadth or length can tell?

On its glories

Let my soul for ever dwell.

What from Christ that soul shall sever,

Bound by everlasting bands?

Once in Him, in Him for ever,

Thus the eternal cov’nant stands:

None shall pluck thee

From the Strength of Israel’s hands.

Heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus,

Long-ere time its race begun;

To His Name eternal praises;

O what wonders He hath done!

One with Jesus,

By eternal union one.

On such love, my soul, still ponder,

Love so great, so rich and free;

Say, while lost in holy wonder,

‘Why, O Lord, such love to me?’

Hallelujah!

Grace shall reign eternally.

John Kent, 1766-1843

Tom Baker, Ebbw Vale

Some wonderful Christians have already written here, perhaps you feel so unworthy in comparison! Well, that’s exactly how I feel as I write this but by the grace of God I am what I am; a sinner still, but a saved sinner. No more, no less, a dirty sinner saved by God’s grace and made clean by the blood of His beautiful Son.

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up…How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You… Psalm 139

I’m often quite aware of my own sinfulness. I wallow in guilt most days. And so I should, shouldn’t I? I mean, my behaviour is hardly good enough. My thoughts are bad, and they are often followed by bad actions. My heart is wicked, and I feel so dirty. And the holy God, has searched me and known me (v1). Gutted. In fact David goes on to tell me that God knows everything there is to know about me. When my own sinful heart can tell that I’m a sinner, what will a holy God think of me? But rather, His thoughts to me are precious (v17). Though I sin constantly, the Lord thinks about me! In His sight I am blameless because His own Son has carried all my sin, guilt and shame and been punished in my place. So often my last thought as I drop off to sleep at night is, “I must have gone too far this time, I must have failed too many times to be a real Christian. I’ve sinned unforgivably, surely God will leave me now.” I fall asleep fearing that I have no hope of being right with God. Then I wake up, and find that He is still with me (v18). He’s not left me yet and He never will. What a patient Saviour He is!

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions…Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow…Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise… Psalm 51

This Psalm is said to follow a particularly low point in the life of David. You know the story, He gets another man's wife pregnant and has him killed to cover it up. He knew that what he’d done was wrong, and he knew that God was angry with him. More often than not, my own feelings of shame come after I’ve done things that I know are bad. My only hope is that God would be merciful to a sinner like me (v1). I feel dirty, I must have Him make me clean (v7). My heart is battered and broken, and it’s my own stupid fault. I really hate myself sometimes. But God doesn’t. He doesn’t despise people who are broken hearted over their sin (v17). I sometimes believe the lie that He does hate me for what I’ve done, or rather that He must hate me! But seeing me in this sorry state, He is driven to the deepest compassion. “Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed His own blood for my soul!” He creates in me a clean heart (v10), He changes my sinful, broken heart into a clean, whole one. He’s doing that in me every day, even on the days when I really can’t feel it.

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high…But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed... All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all…Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12

It’s refreshing to often remind myself of how Jesus Christ has dealt with my sin. God hasn’t just overlooked it, He’s dealt with it. My sin has all been punished in Jesus, and this chapter is my favourite description of that. Jesus Christ, the holy Son of God, King of the Universe, Glorious God, has become a Man and in His body has carried all my sins and sorrows! He endured shame, accusation, trial, punishment, and death, all of which should have been mine. He bore the anger which His Father had towards me and my sin. By Christ’s wounds, I am healed (v5). The Lord has laid on Christ all of my sin (v6). No wonder the apostle Paul would say later that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)! Even now, when I feel quite sinful in myself, Jesus Christ makes intercession for me (v12).

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me… And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also… John 14

This wonderful Saviour has risen from the dead and gone to heaven now. Though I know Him, and He is always nearby His Spirit, I look forward to the day when I see Him face to face. Before He left, Jesus told His disciples that He would go and prepare a place for them, and therefore would be coming back for them to take them there (v3). Likewise, Jesus is preparing a place for me, so one day I know He’s coming back to take me there. While still on earth I often feel distant from God, but then I will be “forever with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). So much of my life bears so little resemblance to His, but when I see Him as He is I will be made completely like Him (1 John 3:2). On that day I will have already had my last bad thought, my body will be glorified, my heart will love Christ purely and my soul will know how clean it really is. I do hope He comes back soon.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

If I may break the no-Bible-characters rule, I’ll go for the apostle John. First of all he must have picked up some desert island skills on Patmos. But more than that, it would be so good to sit and listen to him talk about his friend, the Lord Jesus, whom he loved so much. I believe the thing that never stopped amazing him was that Jesus loved him, and that’s the kind of company I’d like to keep.

Which song would you take to the island?

Do I seriously only get one song? Dear me. I’ll answer for now with a 1738 piece by Charles Wesley but next week my answer will probably be different.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?

'Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine!
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race;
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Esther Hoole, Columbo, Sri Lanka

Having lived most of my life on an island that often feels like a spiritual desert, I’m so grateful for a Bible full of verses, books full of hymns and a huge family to pray and sing with. I know that were it not for these, life here would have been hard. But I also know that even if I had no one with me and had somehow forgotten all my verses and hymns, my Lord would still be with me, and that He would be sufficient. That said, I’m so glad the prescribed situation allows for a little more.

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Romans 3:3-4

I walked away from God for two awful years. At the end of them, I hated my sin, but felt it would be an insult to His holiness to ask Him to take me back. This verse put all those fears to rest. It showed me that the insult was in assuming that His faithfulness was the same as mine. But unlike mine, His love was faithful and Christ would save again and again. That day, I repented and He saved. The fear of offending Him by my repeated pleas for forgiveness remains, along with my sin, but this verse continues to comfort and correct.

Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Isaiah 49:15-16

I don’t think everyone would forget me once I was on the island (one can always hope). However, I think it would be too easy to feel forgotten. This verse reminds me that on my Saviour’s palms, two nail scars spell out ‘Esther Hoole’ along with the names of all the other saints. And on the island, I’d remember that the One who really matters, will never forget.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. Hosea 2:14-15

I love the book of Hosea. It convicts, comforts and makes me understand and rejoice in the love of Jesus so much more. This verse would remind me to be grateful for the island because God will have brought me there for a purpose. The island is part of God’s kind providence, it is far sweeter to be there with Him, than to have the best the world can give without Him.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 38:4

(This verse represents Job chapters 38 – 41) I hate that there are wars and unpunished criminals in the world and that people are suffering and dying.  In my arrogance, I then fall into thinking that God needs me to make this right. That my abilities and accomplishments are necessary for Him to win. I think I’d struggle with this on the island as well. These chapters have always put things into perspective. They remind me that God does not need me to run the world. He never has. On the island, I’d find this convicting, and immensely comforting. The burdens of the world are God’s and He who spared not His only Son will do all things well, whether I am working to help or stuck on an island.

Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:16

I don’t think the Christian life is very different from being on a desert island. We struggle to survive, nothing is certain, we’re often lonely and hurting except for when we’re spending time with the Lord and we’re all longing for a better country. Being stuck on an island would just give me more time to think of and long for the better country, the city that God is preparing for us. Think of all the people I want to meet, of all the questions I want to ask, of all the things I want to do, more than anything, of finally seeing my Lord and being in His presence for all eternity. A few decades on a desert island isn’t much compared to all that!

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

It feels a bit mean to drag someone into this situation, but as long as it’s hypothetical, I’d pick the Apostle John. He’d have the necessary how-to-not-die-on-a-desert-island knowledge and he knew what it meant to rest and rejoice in Christ’s love. His identity was in being the “disciple whom Jesus loved”. That’s something I’d like to learn while I’m still on this earth, and he sounds like a patient teacher. John knew Christ and He saw something of Heaven, I can’t think of better subjects for desert-island-conversation.

Which song would you take to the island?

God’s plan for my family has always involved a lot of moving between contracts and countries. The constant moving is painful, especially when it involves being separated from one another. Before one of these particularly hard moves, I remember hearing my father sing this hymn, and I was as comforted in hearing it as I think he was in singing it. Since then, I’ve found myself singing it when things were most uncertain, when I’ve been most afraid and when I’m far from those I love.

Could I only remember one hymn, it would be Jane Borthwick’s 1855 translation of Kathrina von Schlegel’s 1752 hymn. I’ve sung it in every change, and in each of those changes He has remained faithful. It reminds me that God is sovereign, that His will is good and that really, the island bit doesn’t matter because I’m going home at the end of it all.

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Gareth Davies, Cardiff

My initial reaction when asked to take part in Desert Island Verses was to think how bad it would be to be stuck on a desert island. This quickly moved on to how I could possibly choose a small number of verses to take with me to the Island. So I’ve had to be really disciplined (I’d have loved to have taken the whole of Psalm 123, Ephesians 1, Romans 5 and Romans 8) and I’ve picked those verses that have been especially precious to me over the past 12 months.

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

This is the crux of everything. I continually need to make sure that I don’t move from here. God loves me. Not because of who I am (after all, I was just a sinner). But because of who He is. He didn’t send Jesus to die for me because I was special, He sent Jesus to die for me because I was a sinner. I need to remember that every day.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

Sometimes I can doubt that God will provide. I can doubt that He will be everything I need. I can imagine that on a desert island, these feelings would be even stronger. Paul slaps my thoughts back down where they belong. If God loves me enough to send His Son to die for me, then He loves me enough to provide everything that I need. This is so good, I’m left almost speechless. John Piper puts it like this:

“The point of verse 32 is that this love of God for his one and only Son was like a massive Mount-Everest obstacle standing between him and our salvation. Here was an obstacle almost insurmountable. Could God, would God, overcome his cherishing, admiring, treasuring, white-hot, affectionate bond with his Son and deliver him over to be lied about and betrayed and abandoned and mocked and flogged and beaten and spit on and nailed to a cross and pierced with a sword like an animal being butchered. Would he really do that? Would he hand over the Son of his love? If he would, then whatever goal he is pursuing could never be stopped. If that obstacle were overcome in the pursuit of his good, every obstacle would be overcame.”

He did… and now every obstacle is overcome.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:8

I could have chosen the whole of this Psalm – it’s truly amazing. I especially love this verse though. I’m frequently reminded of how dirty my sin is. How dark it is. How offensive it is. Yet, I also need to remember this – God has removed it from me, not just to the end of my road, not just to the edge of Cardiff but as far as the East is from the West. On a globe this is an infinite amount. You never stop going East or West.

Jesus wept. John 11:35

This may, on the surface, appear to be a strange verse to include but this verse has been so helpful for me over the past few months since my Dad died in December. Our Saviour’s care for us is not some abstract concept – here He is. Upset at the death of a friend. Nothing unusual in that in one sense. You know, when you hear the news of a loved one dying, you can’t help it. What makes this verse so amazing is when we consider who Jesus is and what He’s about to do. When we consider that Jesus is God, He knows something we don’t as He comes to Lazarus’ grave – He knows why it’s happening but also that in a few minutes he’ll resurrect Lazarus and rather than everyone mourning they’ll all be rejoicing. I think this is amazing. He could have just said to them, “wait until you see what I’m about to do”. But He doesn’t. He enters into the grief of his children. We have a Saviour who is not aloof but weeps with us.

For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 2 Corinthians 5:4

I must confess – prior to December last year, I’d never really paid this verse much attention. The last few words have been such a comfort and also realigned how I view life & death. I’ll never forget Peter Milsom helpfully sharing with me that we often think of this world being the land of the living and that we fall into the land of the dead. But the Christian message is actually that this earth is the land of the dying and that, in Christ, we will go to the land of the living. One day death will be swallowed up by life.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:4-5

I’m cheating a little on this last one as I’ve picked two verses but this is the great hope for all Christians isn’t it!? I was leaving work to go home. I knew it was going to be the last time I would see my father alive. As I was leaving, one of my best friends in work said, “I hope everything goes ok. Good luck”. Good luck! At first I thought it was a really strange thing to say but then I realised it was all they had. In this materialistic, atheistic society, the best my friend could offer was good luck. How different is the Christian gospel?! Instead of good luck we have, “Behold, I am making all things new”. What a great Saviour we have. One who will one day make all things new.

Which Christian from the past would you like to find on the island for company?

This is a tough question. I think I’d go for Christmas Evans. I can remember reading his biography as a teenager and being seized by his stories. I would love the chance to talk to him about his ministry across Wales and listen to his stories. He was a very eccentric preacher so it would certainly be interesting with the “one-eyed man of Anglesey”!

Which song would you take to the island?

Sometimes in our worship, there is no room for pain, hurt and suffering… George Matheson’s hymn from 1882 is one that acknowledges the difficulties and hurts of life before pointing us to Jesus.

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Conrad Mbewe, Lusaka, Zambia

At different stages of my life, different passages of Scripture have been my meat and drink. So, in choosing which verses I would take with me on this desert island, I would opt for those verses that the Lord is currently using in my life to make me more like Jesus. After all, that’s all that really matters in this short earthly journey… even if one is marooned on an island. O, to be like Jesus!

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. Titus 3:3-8

I would want to go with Titus 3:3–8 because it is one of the best summaries of God’s way of salvation. It states (1) how I was before I was saved, (2) how the Lord saved me and (3) how he expects me to live as his child. This fills me with unquenchable gratitude for the grace that makes me who I am today. It also fills me with courage to live with hope for the glory of God in whatever circumstances I find myself. This passage is concentrated milk and honey, all in one.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

I would want to find Paul Kasonga on this desert island. He was the first indigenous Baptist leader in my country (Zambia) and still remains largely unknown to the wider Christian world. His original name was Kaputula Kasonga when he first showed up at the fledgling Baptist mission to join the boys’ school around 1916. By 1921 he had converted to Christ and was given the name of Paul at his baptism. This was partly because of the leprosy he suffered from, that was seen as the thorn in his flesh. In due season it robbed him of his fingers and toes and left him totally dependent on a wheelchair to get around. By 1931 he had become the acknowledged leader of the entire mission. He was only finally ordained as a pastor by the South Africa Baptist Mission (SABM) in July 1953 and he died a year later in August 1954. The Lord used Paul’s suffering to teach him the deep truths of the faith at a level that very few people knew. The Lord also gifted him with a way with words that made him an extraordinary preacher. I would want to sit at the feet of such a man on a lonely desert island and learn the precious lessons he had learned in the crucible of affliction. 

Which song would you take to the island?

The song that I would want to take with me to the island is, “O how the grace of God amazes me” Emmanuel T Sibomana (1915–1975); an African pastor in Burundi wrote the hymn. Like the passage of Scripture quoted above, it summarises the saving grace of God in a most moving way. I would want to spend my time with Paul marvelling at the unsearchable riches of Christ in our salvation!

O how the grace of God amazes me!

It loosed me from my bonds and set me free!

What made it happen so?

‘Twas His will, this much I know,

Set me, as now I show, at liberty.

My God has chosen me, though one of naught,

To sit beside my King in heaven's court.

Hear what my Lord has done,

O, the love that made Him run

To meet His erring son. This has God wrought!

Not for my righteousness, for I have none,

But for His mercy's sake, Jesus, God's Son,

Suffered on Calvary's tree;

Crucified with thieves was He;

Great was His grace to me, His wayward one.

And when I think of how, at Calvary,

He bore sin's penalty instead of me,

Amazed, I wonder why He,

The sinless One, should die

For one so vile as I; My Saviour He!

Now all my heart's desire is to abide

In Him, my Saviour dear, in Him to hide,

My shield and buckler He,

Cov'ring and protecting me;

From Satan's darts I'll be safe at His side.

Lord Jesus, hear my prayer, Your grace impart;

When evil thoughts arise through Satan's art,

O, drive them all away

And do Thou, from day to day,

Keep me beneath Thy sway, King of my heart.

Come now, the whole of me—eyes, ears, and voice.

Join me, creation all, with joyful noise:

Praise Him who broke the chain

Holding me in sin's domain

And set me free again. Sing and rejoice!