| Hebrews 13:15-16 – “So through Jesus we should never stop offering our sacrifice to God. That sacrifice is our praise, coming from lips that speak His name. And don’t forget to do good for other people. And share with other people. These are the sacrifices that please God.” |
As you grow older, you realize what you are and what you have, you owe to someone else.
We have parents who raise up, teachers who instruct us, and mentors who model for us.
Without them, we would be nothing. The concept of the “self-made man” is one of life’s great deceptions.
That’s what makes a song so potent to us.
The art museum in Dusseldorf, Germany houses a painting showing Christ, crown of thorns cutting into his forehead, standing before Pilate. Under the painting by Sternberg are the words, “This have I done for thee; what hast thou done for Me?”
Frances Havergal stood before this painting and scribbled on a piece of paper the words that moved her so much. She dabbled in poetry.
When she returned to England, she tried her hand at a poem based on that inscription under the painting but thought it so poor she threw it into the hearth of the fireplace to become fodder for that’s evening’s fire. Instead, it was found lying on the ashes by her father, William Havergal, who was a church musician. He kept the verses which sometime later made them into the hands of American composer Philip Bliss who published the song in 1873.
Frances Havergal had the nickname of The Consecration Poet for her entire life, due to her simple faith and saintly lifestyle. She lived a short but active life, passing away at 43 years of age.
That scrap that she felt was not very good…you and I know it, reclaimed from the ashes.
I gave My life for thee,
My precious blood I shed,
That thou might ransomed be,
And raised up from the dead;
I gave, I gave My life for thee,
What hast thou giv’n for Me?
I gave, I gave My life for thee,
What hast thou giv’n for Me?
My Father’s house of light,
My glory-circled throne
I left for earthly night,
For wand’rings sad and lone;
I left, I left it all for thee,
Hast thou left aught for Me?
I left, I left it all for thee,
Hast thou left aught for Me?
I suffered much for thee,
More than thy tongue can tell,
Of bitt’rest agony,
To rescue thee from hell;
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee,
What hast thou borne for Me?
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee,
What hast thou borne for Me?
And I have brought to thee,
Down from My home above,
Salvation full and free,
My pardon and My love;
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee,
What hast thou brought to Me?
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee,
What hast thou brought to Me?
The truth of that song is that we, like those words, were reclaimed from the ashes of despair and death by the gift of Jesus.
As Paul would remind us: “and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15, ESV)
Today, you are who you are because of the gift of Jesus, and he asked, “what have you given for me?
–Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
