Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, healing, riches of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee I find,
O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come.
(Charlotte Elliott)

Just as I am. . . Broken. Helpless. Frail. Just as I am. . . Proud. Capable. Self-sufficient. Just as I am. . . Created. Needy. Loved.

Without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me. . . There is nothing else I can claim, nothing else I can lift up that makes me worthy to come before Him. It is the blood of Jesus that cleanses from pride and selfishness and sin. So why do I hold up other things as if they might make me worthy? Why do I look back on a life fairly well-lived with a sense of “getting it right”? When I come before the throne of God and I meet a blackened, hardened sinner there, we both share the same plea, no matter how clean and pure I might seem. The blood of Jesus. . . Perhaps if I remembered that, I would view those around me differently. Perhaps I would view myself differently.

There is more to that plea, however, and that is the bidding of Jesus to come. He came for me and for you, though we did not call Him. He came, and He spilled His blood in one of the most painful ways imaginable, and He gave up life itself, and in that spattering of blood upon the cross, there is a call. . . a call to the life that He then took up again and offered to us.

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

Waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot. . . There is no point in waiting. There is no satisfaction and no peace greater than that which we find in confessing sin before the One Who can forgive it and wash us clean. Even one small blot can fester in our hearts and rob us of our peace, so why wait? Why wait when His “blood can cleanse each spot”? That’s what it was shed for. Don’t make His sacrifice a waste.

Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt. . . Sometimes in the midst of the storm is when it’s hardest to come. Our minds get so overwhelmed with confusion and chaos that we forget there is a still, small voice calling us to come. Fightings and fears within, without. . . We forget there is a rest.

We come with empty hands, with aching hearts. We come broken and pitiful. We come blind. We come wretched. We come with nothing. And when we come, He gives us all we need. All I need in Thee I find. . . But sometimes I want to look elsewhere for a while first, thinking maybe I will find something that I missed all the other times I was not satisfied until I came to Him. Why do I forget so quickly? Because there is pain involved in coming? Because surrender means death to self and self is who I know and love and am so utterly entangled with? There is freedom from self at the foot of the cross as well. . . there is freedom in surrender.

Because Thy promise I believe. . . I come. He has promised so much. Thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve. . . There is forgiveness and mercy and pardon. There is cleansing and relief. There is communion with the Maker of the universe and the Creator of the heart that beats inside me.

O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come.

It takes humility to come. It takes death to self. It takes a willingness to suffer and a willingness to give up.

But in return, there is peace and there is joy and there is rest. For in coming to Him, we learn to know Him, and in knowing Him we realize that He is the reason for life and the reason we are here.

Just as I am. . . I come.