Good-Bye 2021!

Philippians 3:13-16 (NIV)

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus

Well, I don’t think there are many of us who will say they are sorry to see 2021 go! It began with a promise that the vaccine would get us back to normal…it is ending with confusion, a new variant, and the possibility of returning to more restrictions! Even though I do believe we are wiser, and even while taking all the precautions, we will live our lives to the best of our ability in 2022! With that in mind, I would like to end this year with some prayerful declarations from a very will known hymn that we really don’t sing in church much any more, but this hymn has the potential to focus our thoughts on what is Godly for 2022.

“Take My Life and Let it Be” by Frances R. Havergal 1836-1879

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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
4. at thy feet its treasure-store.
5. Take myself, and I will be
6. ever, only, all for thee.

Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r 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.

The hymn writer, Frances, lived only into her early forties, but from the time she was 8 or 9 she wrote verse that was a praise to her God. This is a hymn that clearly should motivate us to consecration ourselves. First, let’s think about what it means to be consecrated. Consecrated is a type of transfer of ownership from your will, to God’s will. It is stating that you will separate yourself from anything unclean, according to what God considers unclean. It is setting yourself only for a holy and pure purpose, and special use. She clearly takes each part of her own life and consecrates it to the Lord.

How do you do this? Especially in our world of anything goes, no holds barred-even among some believers. Here are some suggestions;

1. Surrender yourself to His will and ways.
2. Dedicate yourself to His plan for your life.
3. Spend time in His presence; listening and praying and of course reading His instruction book, the Bible.
4. Pray! Not just in your usual prayer time, but, all the time.
5. Expect a change of heart as you become more like Him.

As we are looking ahead to a new year and consider those ‘resolutions’ we make to improve ourselves in many ways, consider the best improvement we can ever make, consecrate ourselves to God anew. These are easy words in this hymn to memorize and constantly repeat in your mind. As we do this, we declare our own consecration to the One that deserves all of our life, always!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.