"Take my life and let it be;
COSECRATED Lord to thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise"
Have you ever wondered if songs of praise and thanksgiving to God must always have; "Thank you", "I praise you"; "I'm grateful", "I love you Lord","I worship", adore" and many more eulogy? Most times certain "song writers and music leaders" insist on compartmentalising the songs we sing to God as;"Praise and worship." Praise being the "dancable" one with all the "thanks", "Receive our praise" with people clapping, smiling and performing other loud gestures while worship is slow, abit sombre and "cryable" songs go up to God with squeezed faces, squinted eyes with the "worshippers" wearing a serious look and hands flung in the air a lot of times. While I DON'T in anyway mean to argue with their beliefs about "Praise and Worship", I personally believe there is more to music than all these terminology can DEEPLY define.
As the above hymn resonated in my spirit man, I could feel a strong acknowledgement for the awesome things God has done without having to say; "I appreciate you Lord". My mind strolled back to my childhood "orthodox" church where the Reverend would insist we sing only one or two stanzas of a hymn, shaving off the remaining three or more stanzas/verses to save time so people could return home after a LONG, monotonous service. I really can't recall if he used to pick out the most powerful and perhaps most meaning stanzas or he just handpicked any so we could complete the routine on the "order of service". But as I've grown in wisdom and stature with God, I know the effect of every word in a hymn or song.
Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5vs19 to;
"sing Psalms and HYMNS and spiritual songs(no emphasis on slow and fast songs) among yourselves, making music(not even praise and worship mentioned here)to the Lord in your hearts."
Now whether the music we make to God is jazzy, blue-ish,hip hop-pish, rock and rollish, we are implored to sing unto Him acknowledging and showing sincere gratitude to Him for everything through Jesus Christ.
THE HYMN:
As I repeated this hymn(the hymn has no "thank you etc in it) though a song of dedication to God, I paused and told the Lord that I am actually showing Him respect(an act of worship), thanking Him and celebrating Him for being a CONSTANT custodian of my life. Alone in my self-contained room with no mum or dad to watch over me or a sibling,friend or husband to rock and coax me to sleep but assured that my Heavenly Father is always AVAILABLE I can't help but sing this Hymn to Him. No one knows what's going on in my space save Him and like David opined; "He is an EVER-present HELP in time of need".
He alone can take the reins of my fragmented heart and mould as one, he and ONLY he can put my life in shape. He alone can cleanse me,placing me on the path to a new walk with Him. It is ONLY the Lord who can FORGET my silly mistakes "unpardonable" by any man(not even me) ,FORGIVE and make me whole again.
He is a God always ready to "remarry" me His bride. He is a God who is(and has become) all things to me at different times in my life- a Father, mother,friend,Husband,lover,confidant,Maker,creator,Sister, comforter and the list spills over.
So with this Hymn, I praise and show extreme honour to my GIVER of life for taking off every filthy garment and all the mess of yesterday,and clothing me with a new cloak of righteousness. I am eternally grateful to Him for letting me into His kingdom, accepting to show mercy and grace where I need it most, lavishing me with ceaseless love and granting me a place next to Him in the High places.
I express sincere appreciation to God for getting involved in every detail of my once wretched life, for specifically opening my heart so he could come in-to-me and see(intimacy) the flaws,pains, un faithfulness and mistakes of my past, turning them into strength, and everything GOOD thing for His purpose in the Kingdom. Though I may not always sing a song to Him, my life and my story are witnesses to His unfailing love for Him- all of who I am PRAISES God, amen.
