Give My Heart

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.

If I were a wise man, I would do my part.

Yet what I can I give Him - give my heart.

Christmas is all about giving - every year we busy ourselves with finding that special gift for that special someone. Yet how much do we really consider what it means to give, and how we give to God?

I remember when I was six and I recited this poem in our school's Christmas pageant. I didn't feel the full weight of the words then only that I had to say them from memory. Yet because of that exercise, these words by Christina Rossetti have not only stayed with me, but have become a part of me. It's just something in the nature of being a child.

In the Bible, it instructs us to come to Jesus as little children (Matthew 19:14), and it's easy to understand why. Children are more trusting than adults, and they are also much more deeply impressed and shaped by their experiences.

In those first formative years, our hearts were open to the world. Life brought us to tears one minute and laughter the next, and we had a different view of giving. Children give hugs; children will give a picture they made; children will sing a song or tell a story as a gift. Jesus delights in these offerings from the heart - yet somewhere along the journey of life, our resources of time and talent become neglected in favour of money and things when we ponder what to give.

How poignant, then, that at Christmas we try to see the world through the eyes of a child once again - may we make an extra effort to give like one. And once Christmas is over, may we remember that Jesus longs us to have that same heart for Him every day of the year. He delights in a heart that's generous, impressionable, and sensitive to His voice. It will be the cheapest as well as the most expensive gift you will ever give.

Ruth-Ellen W.