Friday, 16 October 2009
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Take My Life
Take my life, that I may be
Consecrated, Lord, to thee
Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of they love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect and use
Every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my voice and let me sing
Always only for my King;
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from thee.
Take my will and make it thine;
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is thine own;
It shall be they royal throne.
We sang these great words by Frances R Havergal in worship last Sunday to an exciting Latin tune that made you want to get up and dance. (Which of course we didn’t, since we’re Lutheran) But it was also a tune that got stuck in your head without much effort. So I wasn’t surprised when I found myself singing it over and over on the way home.
I was surprised, however, to realize that for the first time I was actually hearing the words I was singing. I had to focus to remember them as I beat out the rhythm on my steering wheel, which helped, but I also think I was finally ready to hear them.
It’s a hard thing to give up control, to let someone else dictate your direction, your actions, your thoughts, especially when that someone is a God we can’t see and aren’t always sure is really there. It takes faith, and trust, lots of trust. It takes believing that God really does love you and knows what’s best for you and the rest of the world.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~ Romans 12:1-2
I think a lot of the time we say, “Oh yes, God is in control of my life. I will do what God wants, not what I want.” But when it really comes down to it, when we get in a jam, or aren’t sure what the future hold, we snatch it back, afraid God might ask us for something we don’t really want to give.
In Romans, Paul talks about it like a sacrifice, that we offer our lives to God as a sacrifice. It’s not really a sacrifice if we lay it on the altar, but pull it off again every time we get uncomfortable.
I needed that reminder in the car the other day. I think we all need it from time to time. Letting go of control and following what God wants takes effort, thought, and giving ourselves up over and over.
Where is your life today? On God’s altar, or in your hands?
Take my life Lord. Amen.
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