Speaker: Darlene Sala | Series: Encouraging Words | A pastor tells about the time his young son burst into his office after the morning session at the church’s preschool.

“Here, Dad, this is for you,” he said as he thrust a sheet of photographs into his hand. It was the typical sheet of six or eight identical student photos—enough for every relative in the family to have a picture.

“These are great, Son” his dad responded, reaching for the scissors so he could snip one off to keep.

“No, Dad,” his son stopped him. “Don’t cut them. I want you to have all of me.”

How like our heavenly Father, thought the pastor, as he slipped the whole sheet of photos under the glass that covered his desk. How He must long to have us run into His presence and declare, “I want you to have all of me!” How much joy it would bring to His heart! Not offering him ten percent, or one day a week, or some of our talents and abilities. But because we love Him so much, throwing ourselves into His arms just as a little child does.

Nearly 150 years ago, hymn-writer Frances Ridley Havergal penned these words:

 

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store;
take my self, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.[1]

 

OK, so that’s not the kind of language we use today–we’ve become much more informal.  But that’s the kind of outpouring of love that brings joy to our heavenly Father’s heart. “Ever, only, all for thee.” Not given grudgingly but profusely because we love Him so much.

The psalmist wrote, “I will praise you, O Lord, with all [italics added] my heart. I seek you with all my heart” (Psalm 9:1 and 119:10). Let your commitment to the Lord rise as the spontaneous expression of your heart. I think the pastor’s son said it just right: “I want You to have all of me.” Nothing held back.

[1] Frances Ridley Havergal, “Take My Life, and Let It Be,”  Triumphant Service Songs (Winona Lake, IN: The Rodeheaver Hall-Mack Co., 1934), 255