Scripture Verse

To every man his work. Mark 13:34

Introduction

portrait
Fanny Crosby (1820–1915)

Words: Fan­ny Cros­by, 1867. The song was de­di­cat­ed to the Young Men’s Chris­tian As­so­cia­tion (YMCA).

Music: Phi­lip Phill­ips (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Philip Phillips (1834–1895)

I have a young men’s Bi­ble class, writes a Chris­tian work­er in Ro­ther­ham, Eng­land. Some years ago one of my schol­ars brought a stran­ger to the class, who had just come to our town on bu­si­ness. He con­tin­ued to at­tend ve­ry re­gu­lar­ly for about a year.

Hav­ing ob­tained a bet­ter bu­si­ness ap­point­ment in a dis­tant town, he told me be­fore leav­ing the class that when he first ar­rived he had ful­ly made up his mind to shake him­self free from all re­li­gious in­flu­ence; as he had come to a strange town where no one knew him, he would en­joy him­self any way he chose.

But he con­sent­ed to at­tend the class just once. The first hymn sung was, Oh, what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther? Say, what are you go­ing to do? He could not get it out of his head all the week, and it was the means of en­tire­ly set­ting aside his in­ten­tions.

On ar­riv­ing at his new home he im­me­di­ate­ly unit­ed with a Chris­tian church. His stea­dy, con­sis­tent life won for him pro­mo­tion in bu­si­ness, and he now fills a po­si­tion of use­ful­ness and re­spon­si­bi­li­ty in an im­port­ant town.

All the good he had re­ceived he at­trib­ut­ed to that hymn on the first Sun­day of his re­si­dence here.

Sankey, pp. 208–09

Lyrics

Oh, what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther?
Say, what are you go­ing to do?
You have thought of some use­ful la­bor,
But what is the end in view?
You are fresh from the home of your boy­hood,
And just in the bloom of youth!
Have you tast­ed the spark­ling water,
That flows from the fount of truth?
Is your heart in the Sav­ior’s keep­ing?
Remember, He died for you!
Then what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther?
Say, what are you go­ing to do?

Will you hon­or His cause and king­dom,
Wherever your path may be?
And stand as a bright ex­am­ple,
That oth­ers your light may see?
Are you will­ing to live for Je­sus?
And rea­dy the cross to bear?
Are you will­ing to meet re­proach­es?
The frowns of the world to share?
Your lot may per­haps be hum­ble,
But God has a work for you!
Then what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther?
Say, what are you go­ing to do?

Oh, what are you going to do, bro­ther?
The morn­ing of youth is past;
The vi­gor and strength of man­hood,
My bro­ther, are yours at last.
You are ris­ing in world­ly pros­pects,
And pros­pered in earth­ly things:
A du­ty to those less fa­vored
The smile of your for­tune brings.
Go prove that your heart is grate­ful—
The Lord has a work for you!
Then what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther?
Say, what are you go­ing to do?

Oh, what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther?
Your sun at its noon is high!
It shines in me­ri­di­an splen­dor,
And rides through a cloud­less sky.
You are hold­ing a high po­si­tion
Of hon­or, of trust, and fame;
Are you will­ing to give the glo­ry
And praise to your Sav­ior’s name?
The re­gions that sit in dark­ness
Are stretch­ing their hands to you;
Then, what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther?
Say, what are you go­ing to do?

Oh, what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther?
The twi­light ap­proach­es now;
Already your locks are sil­vered,
And win­ter is on your brow.
Your tal­ents, your time, your rich­es,
To Je­sus, your mas­ter, give;
Then ask if the world around you
Is bet­ter be­cause you live.
You are near­ing the brink of Jor­dan,
But still there is work for you;
Then, what are you go­ing to do, bro­ther?
Say, what are you go­ing to do?