Oh Canada, Apple of My Eye
- chris oconnor
- May 18
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
This is the poem I delivered at Christ for Canada - Step Up Toronto 2025 (Revelation:A Good News Music Event- Oh Canada, Apple of My Eye) at Mel Lastman Square, - Titled: Oh Canada, Apple of My Eye.
Oh Canada, Apple of My Eye
Apple of my eye, in whom all wisdom abounds—You’re the reason the Wise Men came travelling from afar. They followed the star and it led them to You. God’s wisdom for mankind and salvation too!
Oh Canada, please take His hand, and see for yourself, this Child is God’s master plan; to put enmity between her seed and the serpent’s, It’s God’s sovereign will. He’s the hope of our nation, our lives, and our world.
Apple of my eye, You calmed the sea, You walked on water, healed the blind man, You set the captives free.
Oh Canada, He can calm the raging sea that keeps us from being the true north strong and free. He’s the God from above, with healing in His wings, to bind up our wounds and blot out the stains. Oh Canada, please take His hand and see grace abound from God’s incarnate hands.
Apple of my eye, You came to die. The world thinks You’re crazy, they think You’re a lie. But I hold You close because Your words are life. Where else can I go? It’s in You I’ll abide.
Oh Canada, I plead with thee, I’m watching you closely—it is where Adam failed Eve; he failed to watch her and remind her about the tree, to tell her there’s one right way only if we want to be free: The Tree of Life—you may eat from that tree; the other in the garden, do not eat its fruit. God said, “No.” That’s it. I stand on guard for thee!
Apple of my eye, Your hands nailed to a tree, naked and despised, I barely recognize Thee. You walked this life perfectly, obedient to the tree, Your arms stretched out wide, to bring salvation for me. …Oh Canada, please look at His hands. He provides everlasting at(one)ment—He’s our forever friend!
Apple of my eye, You died and rose again, fulfilling all prophecy, just like You said. You indwelt me with Your Spirit, conforming me to You. Oh Jesus, be lifted high today, so Canada can know You’re true!
Oh Canada, I revisit this for you—have you eaten the forbidden fruit, or are you being true? To the Lamb of God who climbed the tree, was crucified, and became a curse, so that you can be the apple of His eye and forever wholly Yours.
Reflecting on Last Year's Inspiring Event: Oh Canada, Apple of My Eye
Last year's gathering, themed "Oh Canada, Apple of My Eye," was a truly memorable experience. Pastor Paolo captivated the audience with a powerful message drawn from the timeless wisdom of God's eternal word in Deuteronomy 32.
A Call to Canada
How will we respond to His message? How will we respond as a nation?
Event Theme Reflection
This theme provided an opportunity to engage in worship, music, and the bold proclamation of the Gospel, addressing the only remedy for the brokenness observed in ourselves, in Canada, and among the nations: surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ. Through this surrender, we can experience being loved, cared for, protected, and cherished as the apple of His eye.
Oh Canada, Apple of My Eye And the Gospel
Because of the fall of our first parents—Adam and Eve—who rebelled against God, all humanity is lost and spiritually dead before Him. We are in need of being found by Jesus, regenerated by His grace, and made alive through the work of the Holy Spirit.
When a person is regenerated and filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit empowers them to obey God’s law and commandments—not as a means of earning salvation, but as the fruit of a restored relationship with God. This new life enables us to live in a way that is holy and pleasing to God, and to walk in harmony with Him and with others.
Only through Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross can we abide in God’s love and be kept by it. Through Christ, we grow, mature, and prosper spiritually, learning to obey His teachings and becoming God’s workmanship—created for the good works He prepared in advance for us to walk in.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to advance His Kingdom on earth. We are commissioned to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded. Those disciples, in turn, are sent to go and do the same.
Recap: Apple of my Eye and the Gospel
1) You are spiritually lost (spiritually dead) and need to be found by Jesus (John 6:44, Ephesians 2:1, Genesis 3:9-10)
"He found him in a desert land,and in the howling waste of the wilderness;he encircled him, he cared for him,he kept him as the apple of his eye.”—(Deuteronomy 32:10)
2) Jesus said if we love Him we will obey His commandments. (John 14:15). Once Jesus makes us alive in Himself, Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit who then enables us to obey Gods commands so that we can live a life that is holy and pleasing to God. (John 16:7, John 14:26, Matthew 22:37-39, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Peter 15-16)
“Keep my commands and you will live;guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers;write them on the tablet of your heart.”—(Proverbs 7:2–3)
3) Jesus said that apart from Him that we can do nothing, Jesus said that we need to abide in His love so that we can bear much fruit. (John 15:5, 15:9) True protection and belonging happens when we abide in Christ Jesus by putting our faith and trust in Him alone (Matthew 23:37).
“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who are out to destroy me,from my mortal enemies who surround me.”—(Psalm 17:8–9)
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