Come, Ye Sinners

Text: Romans 3:21-26, Luke 5:27-32, 1 Timothy 1:15

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
– Luke 5:31-32, NIV

My husband Ryan hates to go to the doctor. Hates it. Would rather overpay on taxes while drinking room temperature coffee with sand in his teeth than find himself in the exam room.

But, this fall I finally took the bull by the horns and made a call to schedule some long-overdue health maintenance checks. Y’all, they didn’t even know his name. He wasn’t in their system. He’d never been seen by a doctor since we moved to Nashville more than eight years ago.

Once the dates were finally on the calendar, he was really sweating it. Ryan lost sleep for an entire week worrying that the doctor would uncover some terminal illness or lecture him like he was a child about regular well-checks and diet and exercise. He’d waited so long, it felt awkward to show up. He set up camp at the intersection of “ignorance is bliss” and “I can’t bear the judgment” and lived there for years.

I laughed at him then and I still chuckle about it now—so silly to be afraid to be seen by a caretaker. But when I zoom out to a larger picture I realize that, in a lot of ways, I’m just the same in my relationship with my Caretaker.

Lord, could we please postpone the “examine my heart” prayer until I’ve got something worth shining your headlamp on?

Father, I’m a mess right now. I promise you don’t want me walking around proclaiming your name – I’m a PR nightmare.

God, I don’t really know you very well, but I’d like to. Let me see if I can get my act together a bit, then let’s be friends!

Friends, we are all sick with sin. Every one of us is diseased with iniquity. We hear each other saying, “I’m broken and guilty,” and we think to ourselves, “If only they knew – it’s me. I’m the worst.” We live in fear of shining a light on the very darkest parts of our hearts—afraid to whisper those dark parts by name, let alone hold them in our outstretched hands in plain sight of the One who bled and died to redeem them.

Jesus our Healer, says, “Come.” Yes, you are very sick, but that’s why I’m here!

Jesus our Justifier, says, “Come.” Child, you are ill, and I am the only One who can make you well.

We live in shame and fear, afraid to come into the light until we we know the Physician will be pleased with what He sees. We’re worried we’ve waited too long. The author of the hymn “Come, Ye Sinners” echoes Christ Himself when he says, don’t wait another minute!

“If you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.”
“Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of him.”

Do you need Him today, Sisters? Come to Him.
Are you waiting to be better on your own? Come to Him.
In Him you will find not condemnation, but healing.

COME, YE SINNERS
by Joseph Hart, 1759

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and power.

Refrain
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.

Refrain

Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.

Refrain

View Him prostrate in the garden;
On the ground your Maker lies.
On the bloody tree behold Him;
Sinner, will this not suffice?

Refrain

Lo! th’incarnate God ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude.

Refrain

Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.

Refrain

Find an exclusive hand-lettered print with lyrics from “Come, Ye Sinners” in the She Reads Truth shop!

Click below to hear the traditional melody of “Come, Ye Sinners” on the She Reads Truth |Hymns Spotify playlist. An additional version of the hymn is also available on the full playlist.