| God You are austere You expect from us the very best And you are there to forgive the worst offense To receive all one must forsake all To be a disciple one can have no other allegiance No attachments to family No attachments to wealth No attachments to the world Take no thought for your life means That to think about food, shelter, or clothing is to lose sight of you Only by keeping our eyes on you will we stay on course To dwell on any temptation too long will cause us to fall If alcohol is the temptation, to think about alcohol will cause us to drink If security is the temptation, to think about money will cause us to hoard Only by keeping our eyes on the path will we reach our destiny God You are austere For you know better than us the power of the evil one And that we are a fallen race And that only through the anointing can we navigate through the choppy waters of life Unless we make a clean break with the world the word will fall on fallow ground Only by humbling ourselves will we be exalted Only by grace will we succeed Only by obedience will we enter into the Promised Land God You have no choice but to be austere Because if you did not tell us the truth There would be no hope for any of us You are austere because you know the battle And only the humble Only those obedient to your word Will overcome Thank you for not withholding the truth Thank you for the Spirit Because we are not alone in the fight Thank you for being a loving, merciful, and tender God Who must be austere Amen |