To Thee My Heart I Offer
(Elaine Hagenberg)
(Elaine Hagenberg)
God with Us, Us with God
LYRICS (Click to minimize)
To Thee my heart I offer
O Christ-child sweet and dear
Upon Thy love relying
Be Thou ever near
O take my heart and give me Thine
And may it be forever mine
O Jesus, holy, undefiled
My Savior meek and mild
What brought Thee to the manger
O Christ-child sweet and dear?
Thy love for me a stranger
Be Thou ever near
O Lord, how great Thy perfect Love
That reaches from the heavens above
Thy love for us, by sin defiled
That made Thee, God, a child
Let me be Thine forever
O Christ-child sweet and dear
Uphold me with Thy mercy
Be Thou ever near
Thy hand bestows Thy gifts to me
And all I have, I offer Thee
My heart, my soul, and all I own
Let these be Thine alone
Songwriter: Elaine Hagenberg
© 2020 Beckenhorst Press, Inc.
CCLI License #632898
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
Matthew 1:23 (ESV)
Immanuel. God is with us. This is the truth that echoes over hill, valley, and city on Christmas day. The life of the divine has breached into the life of the mortal. The Word that fashioned all flesh took on flesh itself. Suddenly, we serve not only a God who sees and hears, but a God who can touch us. We serve not only a God who feels emotions, but a God who weeps with sorrow. We serve not only a God who is powerful, but a God who sweats with exertion. Immanuel indeed. God is with us, and God has become man!
The scene of the Nativity was likely not very pretty. The Christ-child lay not on a soft bed but on a bristly bed of hay. He lay surrounded by every evidence, physical and emotional, of His mother’s labor. And yet, though pretty it was not, it was beautiful. The eyes of the virgin Mary and her betrothed were the first to gaze upon the infant face of God Himself. Unlike Eve, Mary obeyed the voice of the Lord. And unlike Adam, the Christ would obey His Father and baptize the world into redemption instead of condemnation.
God is with us. May we also be with God. If Christmas has become, or always has been, a meaningless holiday to exchange gifts and eat good food, please hear these words! Christ Jesus, fully human even today, is calling you. He has transcended the barrier of space, time, and divinity to redeem us and call us to the Father through our union with Him. Let us offer our hearts to Him, that our bodies and souls may be one with Christ, Immanuel Himself.
As God offers to be one with us, may we be one with Him. Commit yourself to this as you start the new year, full of hopes or fears as you may be. Find yourself in Christ, and be His and His alone. All else will make sense in the light of this.