I am a Child of God is a song I’ve sung my whole life, and of course, I’ve always known the words were truthful, but I didn’t realize how many things I could know and understand from just three simple verses.
I was thinking of the words yesterday and the the deep, profound message that it is. It is truly beautiful – like my sister-in-law’s ribbon jell-o salad – with layers, layers and more layers! I love it when I hear something and it resonates truth. For me, it makes me want to ACT – act more, be more, trust more, understand more, change more, and serve MORE.
Verse 1:
I am a child of God
(If I am His child, then He must be FATHER. An individual being watching over us all. And if I am a child of God, then YOU are a child of God, as is EVERYONE. That means we are all spiritual brothers and sisters! In Psalms 83:6 it says, “…Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” Isn’t that the most wonderful thing? When internalized and truly understood, it changes things.)
And He has sent me here
(Where? To EARTH!)
Has given me an earthly home
(Yup, I’m here – with family and friends! And you are too!)
With parents kind and dear.
(Mine were, but I understand not everyone is placed in such a home, but there are so many parental figures. We are RAISED in so many ways! The Lord has never left us alone. EVER.)
Chorus:
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me
(Who are we saying this to? Well, I always thought it was our parents (kind and dear), but I think it is really to ANYONE whom we will TRUST and who is TRUSTWORTHY to lead and guide us, especially our Savior. It could be good friends, extended family, our Bishop leaders. Anyone we ALLOW to walk beside us.)
Help me find the way
(Who is this directed to? Who will help us find the way? Those whom we are willing to trust. Those trustworthy people in our lives. Good examples, missionaries, teachers, families, Jesus Christ.)
Teach me all that I must do
(The Lord has a plan for us, but we must also be WILLING to be taught. Humble, submissive and TEACHABLE. Our CHOICES play a huge role in the outcome of this plan.)
To live with Him someday
(We WILL live again! Where we live and with WHOM we live will be determined by our faithfulness, but the Lord has never left us without instruction or a plan to bring us all Home.)
See? That was a lot of truth being explained in only the first verse. Let’s move on to the second verse…
Verse 2:
I am a child of God
(Again, our divine worth – and the divine worth of all people reiterated! Have you ever people watched before? I have and once tried to do it while saying in my mind at the same time: “You are a child of God, and you, and you and you….” And as I did that, the most amazing thing happened! Our spirits connected and I truly felt that their spirit heard my spirit. We are far more connected than we think – or even want to believe.)
And so my needs are great
(Isn’t that the truth! The Lord KNOWS US. He knows every detail.)
Help me to understand His words
(A reminder that we must read and study them to understand them! The scriptures are awesome and “…tell us all things what [we] should do.” (2 Nephi 32:3)
Before it grows too late
(The Lord wants us to understand before we become “past feeling” or become so caught up in the philosophies of men that we are blind to the ways of God. We know it is never too late, but sometimes our choices affect others – or our children – and in that sense, it could be. We must be careful. The Lord depends on us and our choices matter.)
And the third…
Verse 3:
I am a child of God
(We are super special! I’m pretty sure we can’t hear this enough!)
Rich blessings are in store
(Are they ever! We are taught that we will obtain all that the Father has, if we are faithful. It is quite apparent that He loves us.)
If I but learn to do His will
(We must submit to our Father in Heaven and learn to do as He asks if we want these rich blessings spoken of. This is all about trust and submission. Do we trust Him enough? Do we love Him enough? How can He trust us if we don’t trust Him? Submission is such an important lesson we learn here in mortality!)
I’ll live with Him once more
(We were told in the first verse that we were sent here by God, and if it is truth (which it is), that we are to return to Him to live once more, then the question of what we are doing here remains quite simple: To learn, grow, be tested, receive saving ordinances and do all that we can to return to Him. Should that not be our entire focus here in mortality?)
Text: Naomi W. Randall, 1908-2001. (c) 1957 IRI
Music: Mildred T. Pettit, 1895-1977. (c) 1957 IRI
It’s kind of amazing how much truth you can find when you study and pick apart something as simple as the song “I Am a Child of God”. We learned here in 3 simple verses:
- who we are
- who God is
- what our relationship to God is
- what our relationship to others is
- where we are going after this life
- where we came from before we were born
- what is expected of us
- and how much God loves us.
So, next time you hear the song “I Am a Child of God” – or any song for that matter – really internalize the words. You might find there is so much more than you thought. The spirit is an interesting thing. When we are listening and willing to hear with spiritual ears and live in a way that keeps us “in tune”, we will be taught things that we would not normally expect to be in the simple things of this gospel. All it takes is faith, humility and a willing heart. Rich blessings truly are “in store”.