Anna B Warner
“Lord, if I may, I’ll serve another day!”
Anna Bartlett Warner, the daughter of a well-respected New York lawyer, was born on August 31, 1827, in Long Island, New York. In Long Island, the Warner family had been known for being very rich. But then came the Great Depression1. The Great Depression was a difficult time in history. The stock market crashed, and the value of the dollar went very low. People everywhere lost their jobs and their money. Many people lost everything they had.
Because of their losses, the Warners had to move to their summer home, and Anna was expected to get a job. She chose to be an author – writing novels which became famous during her lifetime. What became even more famous, however, were the hymns and songs that she wrote. She wrote the following song for a little boy in Sunday School who was dying: Jesus loves me – this I know, For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.
“Jesus Loves Me” has become perhaps the most well-known Christian song in history.
When the Chinese Christians were persecuted they had no way of letting their brothers and sisters in Christ know that they survived. In 1972, some Christians in America received a strange message from their friends in China. The message said that the “This I know” people were fine! The Chinese police thought it was just a silly message, so they let it go through. The Americans knew right away that the Chinese Christians were referring to Anna Warner's sweet song – “Jesus Loves Me.”
Are you serving God with the gifts He has given you? Is Anna Warner’s song a good reminder to you that God loves you? He loves you more than anyone else ever could! Loving other people is a sign that you love God. Are you loving others today?
1 John 4:8 – He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
[1] Note: The Warner family lost their fortune during the Panic of 1837, a recession that lasted until the mid-1840s, not the Great Depression of 1929-1933.