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I love the song also and your writings always, but I must confess that those last words are more hollow than they used to be. "I'll drop the cross of self-denial, and enter on my great reward." I need a world which brings meaning to every horror, not just something to endure for a time. Mary McCord Adams says the same in "Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God" though she paints the path vaguely. I'd rather the song end with that cross becoming a crown, every jewel reflecting the sufferings endured. Much like the exalted state of Jesus whose image of glorification is a slaughtered lamb on the exalted throne of God which proves his worth and gathers all to worship(Rev 5). The cross was the path for Christ's glorification and I believe it is ours also.

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That's more than insightful, Daren. I agree, now that you've walked me through that way of reading the final verse — wishing for eternal Christ-like glory, rather than wishing only for an end of Christian suffering. Because that is what we're promised, especially in 1 Peter (which I'm reading currently). Peter reminded those Christians under persecution of the glory waiting them, not only in heaven but also in the suffering itself.

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