At Any Cost

At Any Cost

O Lord my God, much grace by Thee
Has freely been bestowed on me.
Thy mercy, love, yea--wondrous light
Delivered me from blackest night.
And now can I, dare I, choose ease?
Go back to things myself to please?
Nay, Father, stir me for the lost
To give myself,--at any cost!

How greatly privileged I have been
Thru out these years on Thee to lean.
Upon thy word I've freely fed;
By waters still I have been led.
How great a debtor now am I!
Take thou my all, to live or die.
Have mercy, Lord, don't let me rust!
Break Thou my heart at any cost!

Yes, much I've heard of all the lost;
I've even prayed, "O save, Thou must"!
But now, it's up to me to choose:
Will I my life for thy sake lose?
Some day I'll answer for this choice.
Will I regret? Will I rejoice?
O solemn hour! O countless lost!
Can I say, "Yes, at any cost"?

From henceforth ALL to thee I give,
I know not where my life I'll live,
And care not, only if God's Son
Can look on me and say "Well done."
In joy? In Pain? what matters where
If I but know you sent me there?
Cost? Nay! 'Tis gain to follow thee;
Lead on, Thou Lamb of Calvary!

The author is listed as anonymous.

The poem was printed on Elaine Townsend's 1943 prayer card. Elaine Townsend (1915-2007) was the wife of William Cameron Townsend (1896-1982), founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, JAARS (previously known as Jungle Aviation and Radio Services), SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics), and other organizations.

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In the interest of accuracy, I searched the Internet in an effort to locate the otherwise "anonymous" author. I did not find the author of the above poem but here are two other renditions of At Any Cost, At Any Cost. Similar: Any Road, Any Cost.
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Note: If you stumbled on this specific blog message (due to the title), I hasten to tell you that I am a volunteer at JAARS, near Waxhaw, North Carolina. I "stumbled" on the poem Friday, Dec. 2nd, while serving as receptionist in Vernacular Media.