How long has it been

How long has it been
Since we last were as kin
What drew me from you
What was so great a thing that
I should pursue
Anything but you

Twas sin in me I knew
Though at that time
I would not confess
Only did I find loneliness
And it did not satisfy
It was a lie

So ran I to the wind
With my inheritance I ran
As a thief as fast as he can
I fled from my friend
I betrayed
When I should have stayed
Instead I sought another
To give me what I thought
I desired

But no joy did I truly find
Only this one cost
I was truly lost
Drunk on this poison
How it gripped me inside
It tortured it lied

It told me all I wanted to hear
But somehow doubt and fear
They too were near
I was tightly bound
In it's grip
I could not break free
I had succumb
To this serpent

And in the deepest darkness
I cried
Save me
If ever I needed thee
Tis now
Release me
For I have run
To that which was sin
I drank deep
And called it kin
And it took me in
It robbed me
Of all dignity

And I am abandoned
Stripped bare and bleeding
Left for dead
No one will look upon me
Only to spit
Or jeer

Will you take me in
For once were we kin
And then my sin
I am nothing
Defiled and despised
There is no one else
But you
Would you take me in

And as I draw my last
breath to cry
I see one
Who is more disfigured
Than I
For me
Did he die
When I ran to my sin
With all my lusts
I rushed in
To crucify
He who truly
Loved

Yet He did it willingly
That I might know
The depth of His mercy
And forgiveness
No one else
Can love
As this
For only He
Brings joy
And satisfies
All loneliness

So now I cast
All others aside
And look to Him
Who died
And rose
He gave all for my sin
And now through
His stripes
Am I healed
In his blood
Am I sealed
Now we are
Kin
Only He
And He alone
Can save
All
From sin

-Joshua Lee Foist