An old man waits beneath the Colosseum
To clinking chains his heart sings freedom
A cloud of witnesses watch from heaven’s stadium
His feeble frame though bound in Rome
His joyous strength says bound for home
To fully know him and be known
He sees more clearly as his eyesight wains
His single aim echoes this refrain
To live is Christ, to die is gain, and then,
He calls the lions his friends
And having done all, he stands
And lightly steps into the blood stained sands
The arch doorway feels no tremble in these hands
Love struck by the brightness of the Son
A war against the dark that God already won
A battle fought, a race with patience run
He hands the pen to God to write his story
Hears trumpets sound instead of roaring
Sees hungry beasts as chariots to glory
His eyes fixate on his prize, and then
Having endured to the very end
He proves those lions were his friends
Our pilgrim’s heart beats new rhythm
Our flesh in buried, our Spirit’s risen
Through tribulation, we enter the kingdom
He that paid the impossible price
Calls us to be a living sacrifice
But in an unfair trade gives us Christ
Flames cannot frighten real gold
For suffering is a momentary road
And temporary pleasure has no hold
For fulness of joy at his right hand
And at the end is where our life begins
So take heart and call the lions friends
Lions, be they sickness, poverty, or death,
Hungry nights, or mourning, we are blessed
Spend my life, Lord, spend it all, and spend the rest
Because I know that ashes are beauty in disguise
Your ways are higher, your thoughts so wise
With what the enemy intends for our demise
You weave for good into your tapestry
With fearless trust we glimpse eternity
When death itself is swallowed up in victory
Joy waits for us with nail-scarred hands
And even lions we consider friends
And, my friend, you know I live by this
And by His grace alone I hope to die for this
And more than anything I pray your cry is this:
Spend my life, Lord, spend it all, and spend the rest