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Thomas Chisholm was a Methodist minister who wrote over 1200 poems. One, put to music, has these lyrics: “I have one deep, supreme desire: that I may be like Jesus. To this, I fervently aspire, that I may be like Jesus. I want my heart His throne to be, so that a watching world may see His likeness shining forth in me. I want to be like Jesus. //He spent His life in doing good; I want to be like Jesus. In lowly paths of service trod, I want to be like Jesus. He sympathized with hearts distressed, He spoke the words that cheered and blessed, He welcomed sinners to His breast. I want to be like Jesus. // O perfect life of Christ, my Lord! I want to be like Jesus. My recompense and my reward, that I may be like Jesus. His Spirit fill my hungering soul, His power all my life control. My deepest prayer, my highest goal, that I may be like Jesus.” Chisholm’s aspiration was in many respects like that of the author of Psalm 84. The psalmist wrote, “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. O LORD, what joy for those who trust in you.” Our highest goal in life should be to please God.
