Now I Belong to Jesus -Norman Clayton

This song of testimony and assurance has been popular in evangelical meetings since it was first published in 1943. The author and composer, Norman Clayton, was born in New York in 1903 and was one of the most talented gospel hymn writers of the twentieth century. His mother was a charter member of the South Brooklyn Gospel Church, where Norman accepted Christ at the age of six. When he was twelve, he started playing the organ at church, beginning his lifelong love of gospel music.

For many years, Clayton was involved in the building business, but in 1942, he joined Jack Wyrtzen’s Word of Life organization and worked there for fifteen years. He provided music for the crusade rallies and Sunday Radio Bible Class broadcasts and was also in charge of counseling for those in spiritual need. In 1945, he founded Gospel Songs, Inc., a music publishing company that merged with the Rodeheaver Company in 1959, where he continued to work as a writer.

Clayton usually wrote the music of his songs before the words. When he was compiling a hymnbook for the Word of Life broadcasts, he remembered a tune that he had written several years before and wrote the three verses and refrain for “Now I Belong to Jesus.” The song was first published in his “Word of Life Melodies No. 1.” Because of his strong desire for his songs to be biblically based, he regularly memorized much scripture. Most of his songs were written for a specific occasion or theme. 

Of all the hundreds of gospel songs that he wrote, “Now I Belong to Jesus” is probably the best-known one. It expresses the personal relationship that a believer has with Christ, emphasizing that the love of Jesus is forever, bringing salvation and joy to the soul: “Not for the years of time alone, But for eternity.” And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life (1 John 2:25).

Many churches have mid-week prayer meetings that often include a time when people share what the Lord has done for them. Sometimes, a person might begin to sing a well-known hymn or chorus, and others will join the singing. The refrain of “Now I Belong to Jesus” is often a favorite.

Clayton recalled that one of his greatest blessings in life was the time when he visited a camp for disabled children and heard a ten-year-old deaf girl singing, “Now I Belong to Jesus.” He would probably have a more prominent place in Christian hymnody, but by the time of his death in 1992, churches were beginning to move toward more upbeat music and more charismatic themes. Styles of music may change, but the truths of God’s Word never will.                                             

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