He Had No Rights

He had no rights:

No right to a soft bed, and a well-laid table;

No right to a home of His own, a place where His own pleasure might be sought;

No right to choose pleasant, congenial companions, those who could understand Him and sympathize with Him;

No right to shrink away from filth and sin, to pull His garments closer around Him and turn aside to walk in cleaner paths;

No right to be understood and appreciated; no, not by those upon whom He had poured out a double portion of His love;

No right even never to be forsaken by His Father, the One who meant more than all to Him.

His only right was silently to endure shame, spitting, blows; to take His place as a sinnet at the dock; to bear my sins in anguish on the cross.

He had no rights. And I?

A right to the “comforts” of life? No, but a right to the love of God for my pillow.

A right to physical safety? No, but a right to the security of being in His will.

A right to love and sympathy from those around me? No, but a right to the friendship of the One who understands me better than I do myself.

A right to be leader among men? No, but a the right to be led by the one to whom I have given my all, led as a little child, with its hand in the hand of its father.

A right to a home, and dear one? Not, not necessarily; but a right dwell in the heart of God.

A right to myself? Not, but, oh, I have a right to Christ.

All that He takes I will give;

All that He gives will I take;

He, my only right!

He, the one right before which all other rights fade into nothingness,

I have full right to Him;

Oh, may He have full right to me!

(Have We No Right?, Moody, 1957)

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