The Longer I Serve Him

Perhaps the biggest difference I experience between life in Japan and life in the U.S.A. is the spiritual heritage of the people around me.   

 

Less than 1/2 of 1% of Japanese people name the name of Jesus.  So, most of the people around me everyday in the grocery store, on the trains, in my conversational English classes, and in my neighborhood were not believers in Jesus.  The Japanese believers I knew were mostly first generation believers and primarily recent believers.  

 

Contrast that with living now in a "Christian" nation and in a region that has a heavy Christian influence and in a rural area where farmers from hearty German stock have been good church-goers for generations.

 

While Jim and I did not have the privilege of meeting each other's grandparents, this spring I heard a recording of his grandfather singing a solo in a church service when he was in his late 70s or early 80s.  

 

You can watch and listen to someone else singing it here:  

(The words are below.)

 

 The Longer I Serve Him

Since I started for the Kingdom,
Since my life He controls,
Since I gave my heart to Jesus,
The longer I serve Him,
The sweeter He grows.

Chorus
The longer serve Him, the sweeter He grows,
The more that I love Him, more love He bestows;
Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows,
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.

Ev'ry need He is supplying,
Plenteous grace He bestows;
Ev'ry day my way gets brighter,
The longer I serve Him,
The sweeter He grows.

Chorus
The longer serve Him, the sweeter He grows,
The more that I love Him, more love He bestows;
Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows,
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.

We benefit so much from hearing those who've gone before us repeat that God is good & faithful!  Is that the message younger people hear from me?