Take My Life Pt 1 Scripture Reading Rom 12:1

Introduction  We sing the phrase, “Take my life” in a song which comes from a poem by Frances Ridley Havergal  The poem actually contains more verses than the song  There are a great deal of lessons to be learned from this poem  Each stanza begins with, “Take my…”  Jesus will not refuse any who come to Him provided they come on His terms (Jn 6:37)  Over the next three weeks we will look at each stanza and draw lessons from the Word of God

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord to Thee  Take my life…  However short it may be  Jam 4:14 “ 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”  It should be lived for Christ (Acts 20:24; Phil 1:19-24)  Mt 16:25 “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord to Thee  Consecrated, Lord to Thee  Consecrate: “To dedicate (one’s life, time etc) to a specific purpose” (World English Dictionary)  We belong to God  1 Pet 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”  Our lives are His  1 Cor 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”  We must recognize Jesus as Lord (Acts 2:36)  Rom 6:18 “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise  Take my moments and my days  Time is important to man  We measure time by the sun, calendar, clock etc  Events of a day or moment are remembered  Pearl Harbor  First moon walk  9-11  Great moments of time or days in the Bible  The days of creation (Gen 1)  The flood (Gen 6-9)  The resurrection of Christ (Jn 20)  The second coming of Christ (2 Pet 3:10)  Let them flow in ceaseless praise  Praise should not be forced, it should flow as second nature  Ps 34 :1 “I will bless the L ORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

Take my hands and let them move, at the impulse of Thy love  Take my hands  Our hands are wonderfully made  Some are strong, some are weak  Some are soft some are rough  Some are large, some are small  God can use them all  He can use what’s in them  Ex 4:20 “ 2 Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.”  A warning against idle hands  “Idle hands are the devil’s playground” (Haziq Hamid)  Ecl 10:18 “Because of laziness the building decays, And through idleness of hands the house leaks.”

Take my hands and let them move, at the impulse of Thy love  And let them move at the impulse of Thy love  We should use our hands always to God’s glory (Ecl 9:10)  In work or play  1 Thes 4:11 “that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,”  Do all in His name  Col 3:17 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”  As God’s love moves our hands, let us reach upward to Him and outward to our fellow-man  1 Tim 2:8 “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;”  Eph 4:28 “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”

Take my feet, and let them be, swift and beautiful for Thee  Take my feet  Not considered one of the more comely parts of the body (1 Cor 12:15-25)  Many of us often times try to keep our feet hidden  Many people go to great lengths to make them look better ie pedicure painted toe nails  Feet are mentioned a great deal in scripture  Moses put off shoes from his feet (Ex 3:5)  Disciples may have to shake the dust off their feet (Mt 10:14)  Women anointed Jesus’ feet (Jn 12:3)  Some sat at Christ’s feet (Lk 8:35, 10:39)  Some fell at Jesus’ feet (Lk 8:41; Jn 11:32)  Jesus washed the feet of His disciples (Jn 13:1-15)

Take my feet, and let them be, swift and beautiful for Thee  Let them be swift  Swift to do God’s will  We are to, “shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” (Eph 6:15)  Not swift to runt to evil  Prov 1:15-16 “My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; 16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.”  Beautiful for Thee (Is 52:7)  Our feet must go to preach the Gospel  Mk 16:15 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”  Rom 10:15 “And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”  Jesus gave His feet for us  Ps 22:16 “For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;”

Conclusion  Stop and take a moment to consider all that you have  All of this has been given to you by God and belongs to Him  Really when you are saying, “Take my…” you are really saying, “Take back Your…”  If you have been selfish in any way with what God has given you and would like to make it right, make it known while we stand and sing