While browsing through a hymnal recently, I ran across one of my favorite songs from when I was a young child: “Will There Be Any Stars?” Memories rolled in like a flood, and I could not keep myself from associating the hymn with a sheet of blue construction paper. On that paper was a childishly drawn circle that represented my crown. When I accomplished tasks assigned to me or was helpful in some way, my mother gave me a star to stick on my paper (in those days, they were the “lick-em, stick-em” variety). Sometimes we sang the song as I placed my star in the circle. I had not thought about this in years.
I hummed the tune as I read through the song lyrics:
1 I am thinking today of that beautiful land
I shall reach when the sun goeth down;
When thro’ wonderful grace by my Savior I stand,
Will there be any stars in my crown?
Chorus:
Will there be any stars, any stars in my crown
When at evening the sun goeth down?
When I wake with the blest in the mansions of rest,
Will there be any stars in my crown?
2 In the strength of the Lord let me labor and pray,
Let me watch as a winner of souls;
That bright stars may be mine in the glorious day,
When His praise like the sea-billow rolls. (Chorus)
3 Oh, what joy it will be when His face I behold,
Living gems at His feet to lay down;
It would sweeten my bliss in the city of gold,
Should there be any stars in my crown. (Chorus)
Author: E. E. Hewitt (1897) Public Domain
According to the song lyrics, the stars are people – those we have influenced for the Lord. Notice I did not say, “people we have won to the Lord.” I phrased it that way on purpose. Sometimes we plant seeds of faith in individuals. At other times, we water seeds that someone else planted. God is the One who causes growth (1 Corinthians 3:6). We might not ever know in this lifetime if our efforts have been effective. However, on the day we meet our Lord face to face and place our crowns at His feet, it sure would be a blessing to see them sparkling with starry magnificence.
The same morning I reminisced about the starry crown, I also read the lyrics to “Bringing in the Sheaves.”
1 Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve,
Waiting for the harvest and the time of reaping —
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Refrain:
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Bringing in the sheaves,
bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
2 Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze;
By and by the harvest and our labor ended –
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. [Refrain]
3 Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;
When our weeping’s over He will bid us welcome –
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. [Refrain]
Knowles Shaw (1874) Public Domain
Memories of this song were different – they involved an argument between my sister Teresa and me. She claimed the song said, “Bringing in the CHEESE.” My claim was that it was not cheese; it was “Bringing in the SHEETS.” I had a picture in my head of a long line of women taking sheets from a clothesline, folding them, and carrying baskets of bed linens to wherever it was they were going.
I thought about how the two songs were related. They both depict the work we do for the Lord. Sometimes we work through sunshine; at other times, we work through rain. We sweat as we labor in oppressive heat; we shiver as we labor in freezing cold. There are days we sing as we toil; then there are days we weep as we remain steady in our toil. But always our goal remains the same: bring a harvest with us when we meet the Lord, be it pictured as bright stars or sheaves of grain.
Prayer:
Lord of the Harvest, I pray that I might make a difference in Your kingdom. May my life be dedicated to making sure that there are stars in my crown and sheaves in my arms when my days on earth are completed. Not for my glory, Lord, but for Yours. You have done so much for me. My desire is to be used as an instrument to tell others about You, whether it be introducing them to You or encouraging them in their Christian walk.
Scripture:
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” Matthew 28:18-20 NASB.