Hymn #490 in Celebrating Grace Hymnal — “Take My Life and Let It Be”
[pullquote_center width=”80%”]Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee;
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.
Take my love, my God, I pour at thy feet its treasure store;
Take thyself and I will be ever, only, all for thee.[/pullquote_center]
Confession time, readers: our hymnal gets this one right. But I grew up thinking the title of this hymn was, indeed, not “Take my life and let it be consecrated,” but “Take my life and let it be.” Could any two phrases be any more different? One asks of God, “Take the gift of this life and make of it something holy, dedicated to you in whatever it finds to do.” The other is the ultimate modern “gotcha” statement: “Take my life… well, no, I need to borrow it back to accomplish these very important things for myself… ok, here you go, God… nope, need it back, good times to enjoy… ok, all yours now… well, take my life, but LET ME BE is what I really mean.”
Are you ready to pour the treasure store of your love, your very life, at the feet of God? Do you want God to let your life be consecrated, or just to let you be?