While many of us have a favorite hymn from the beautifully inspired hymns of praise that have touched our hearts and brought tears to our eyes, The Songs of Zion are unique to our Church. They are songs that belong to a new time; they belong to a new era; they belong to our people. They are songs sent from the throne of God as a gift to The Church of Jesus Christ. They are inspirational and related to Christ and His promises of the latter-day times and events. This gift was given to our late Sister Arlene Buffington, as our songs of hope and joy, looking forward to the fulfillment of the kingdom of Zion, bathed in the latter-day glory of the restoration.

Today I’d like to look at No. 24, “The Day He Found Me,” by looking at the meaning and application of the song, because it’s too easy to sing without paying attention to the words and their meaning.

THE DAY HE FOUND ME

VERSE 1
My path had never found direction, 
Not a day had held perfection.
Then I met Jesus on the way, 
Oh what a blessed, happy day.

VERSE 2
All past days seem so long, so dreary, 
Such a sad, lost soul so weary.
But then such glory came my way, 
When Jesus found me that glad day.

VERSE 3
Now even dark days hold bright sunshine, 
Praise God, now my path’s a straight line.
Since Jesus set the Spirit’s fire, 
My heart is filled with new desire.

CHORUS
Precious day, He gave my eyes sight, (gave my eyes sight)
Lovely day, He sent my path light; (sent my path light)
Since the day Jesus made me whole, (made me whole)
A fire is burning in my soul.

©1980 Arlene Lea Buffington

This is a song we don’t often sing; however, it speaks of someone who recognizes their life is dark and dreary without Jesus, but once they find the joy of Christ, their eyes are opened, and their lives have purpose and meaning! It’s a beautiful song that many of us can relate to, but I’d like to focus on the very last line of the chorus… “A fire is burning in my soul,” which should be something that everyone who has found Jesus Christ should feel on a regular basis.

I’m reminded of the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, where we read of two men who, after the resurrection of Jesus, were walking on the road to a village called Emmaus. After a long conversation with a man they thought was a stranger, they invited him to spend the night and eat with them. Then verses 30 and 31 say, “And it came to pass, as he [meaning Jesus] sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened…” Now the very next verse, verse 32, says, “And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”

There it is. The realization and confirmation that the very words He spoke caused their hearts to burn, or said another way, they felt “a fire burning in their soul.“

Now this is a hard thing to explain to someone who’s never felt this burning. It’s hard to put into words what it feels like when the Lord’s spirit touches you, but as we find in verse 32, they recognized that their hearts burned when the scriptures were opened up to them, or said another way, when the word of God was heard and explained to them. 

Alma offers this comparison: “Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves – It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.” (Alma 32:28)

This swelling or burning is an attempt to explain what it feels like when an individual opens themselves up to the word of God and permits His spirit to touch them. 

There’s another example of a people who had endured destruction and darkness in the Americas during the crucifixion of Jesus. Before Jesus descends and appears to them, they hear a voice from heaven. “And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.” (3 Nephi 11:3)

As followers of Jesus Christ, our lives should be filled with happiness and bright sunshine, our hearts filled with love and joy, because we were all once blind and weak, but now He gave our eyes sight and made us whole. So, in order to retain this brightness of hope and the joy of our salvation, our hearts must continue to feel the fire burning within. We must, as Paul wrote to Timothy, “… give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13).

Simply put, if I desire to feel “a burning in my soul,” on a regular basis, dare I say on a daily basis, not just a few times per year at campouts or special meetings, then I need to take the time each day to read the word of God; I need to be at church where the scriptures are opened up and taught [that’s exhortation]; and I need to learn and live the doctrine of Jesus Christ, what He taught as summarized in What We Believe.

May God bless us as we each strive to feel that fire burning in our soul.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Songs of Zion, listening to the Songs or downloading them, here’s a link to the church website: Church Songs and Music