Take My Life

“Beautiful Jesus, how can I bless Your heart?” A lyric from one of my very favorite songs, “Knees to the Earth”. Which goes on to say, “I owe my life to You, my Lord – here I am.”

How often do we ask God how He is going to help us in certain situations – how He is going to heal us, or heal them – how He is going to set us free from temptation – how He is going to provide when things look difficult.

I just wonder what our lives would look like if we woke up each day and said, “How can I bless YOUR heart?” Instead of, “How can You bless mine?” If every thought, action, response, and meditation was on being a blessing to the One who blesses – what joy that would bring, to us and to Him.   

He loves us so much – it’s staggering:

“How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in Him. Long before He laid down earth's foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of His lavish gift-giving by the hand of His beloved Son.” Eph 1 :3-6 (MSG)

This is the kind of love that leads to a life of sacrifice – He has given everything to us and gave everything FOR us – which brings us to “Here I am”. With a heart like Isaiah’s when asked each day if we will “GO” and love His children may we say, “Here I am! Send me!” with passion and a sincere consent, that wherever He calls us to go we will go.

This excerpt from a Kelly Minter study has really touched my heart this week, “One of the most tragic ways for a Christian to spend her life is to be in the right place with all the right resources but without a willing heart.”

We are in the place of Isaiah – with the Spirit inside of us, having been cleansed by our King, Jesus “your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Is 6:7

Will we respond with “How can I bless Your heart?”

A favorite hymn – written by Frances Ridley Havergal in 1874

Take My Life and Let it Be

Take my life, and let it 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 Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,

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 silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,

Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,