Tell Them of My Way

by Darrell Hymel

I had a dream the other night,
The judgment day was here.
It came in the twinkling of an eye,
I had no time for fear.

I found myself in one great line,
With men from every land.
Men from every race and age
Stood like grains of sand.

Christ held the book within his hands
And God was on the throne.
He set about to judge each man,
By the things which each had sown.

Then Christ took the book of life
And read the names therein;
There were many that once were there,
But were blotted out by sin.

And I wondered if I'd find mine still,
For it had once been there.
Would my name be covered with stain,
Or would my name be bare?

I stood in fear before the throne
And thought back on all my life;
How I fought to keep God's word
And fled from sin and strife.

I never failed to read God's word.
My love, it never died.
I taught my children right from wrong,
I told them not to lie.

I never failed to worship God
On Sunday and Wednesday night.
I often traveled many miles
To hear a word of light.

I gave my goods to feed the poor
And never ceased to pray.
I'd always kept my tongue in check
Until this very day.

So surely the Lord will know me
And tell me to walk on in;
But Lord, please have mercy
On all these lost in sin.

And as I thought, the crowd moved up,
And I was fifth in line,
The men that stood before me
Were ready to pay their fine.

The first man stepped to meet the Lord,
And fell upon the floor,
Then I saw just who it was,
It was the man next door.

Jesus took the book of life
But could not find his name.
My neighbor said, "I have not heard."
I knew, I was the blame.

Next in line was Sister Anne,
Who once in Christ had been.
Because I failed to admonish her,
She continued in her sin.

Her name had once been written
In the pages of that book,
But I never even took the time
To see why she forsook.

Then a black man came before the throne
He had worked with me for years,
He knew his name would not be there
And his eyes were filled with tears.

This man had never learned the truth
And neither had his kin,
For I would not talk with them
For the color of their skin.

And then the man before me
I suddenly recognized,
And as he stepped before the throne
He looked into my eyes.

He was my roommate from college days,
He had been my greatest friend,
We'd always helped each other out,
Down through thick and thin.

But I never told him of the Lord,
It seemed so trivial then,
For we were young and had plenty of time
To talk of God and sin.

And finally upon the judgment day,
I meet with him once more,
But now there's nothing I can say
To open him the door.

And now I stood before the Lord,
My soul was filled with fright.
"Why hadn't I taken the time
To teach them what was right."

Again the Lord, He took the book
And looked there for my name,
Where once had been a pure white page
My brothers' blood now stained.

And then the Lord, He said to me,
"I've found here one dark blot.
You hid My name from all these men.
Depart, I know you not."

"You met them every day in life
And knew they were astray,
But you never even cared enough
To tell them of My way."