"Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.
"Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine; Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne."
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). With these startling and serious words, Jesus describes the total commitment of discipleship. It is the call to complete devotion we hear in the First Commandment: "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). No other worship, no earthly love, not for family, not even for our own lives, can take first place in our hearts.
Jesus challenged His listeners to consider the cost involved. A man planning to build a tower must first decide if he has enough money to complete the task. Before a king goes to war against an army twice the size of his own, he needs to decide if he can win. If not, he had better discuss terms of peace. Jesus continued, "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33). Our hymn uses equally challenging words to pray, "Take my life ... my moments and my days ... my will ... my heart." This is what it means to follow Jesus, as the Holy Spirit moves us to devote every last bit of self to the love and service of our Lord. We present our bodies "as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Romans 12:1b).
In this sacrifice, we follow in the footsteps of our Savior. Jesus considered the cost and paid the price of our salvation with His precious, innocent blood. His life, His moments, His days, His will and heart were consecrated, dedicated, to that single saving purpose, to die on the cross to save us. Now we follow in His steps of sacrifice. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24b). When we pray and sing "Take my life, my days, my will, my heart," we are offering up the sacrifice of faith. We will worship no other gods before our God and Savior, no wealth, no power or popularity, not even our own selfish desires. Just as Jesus put our needs ahead of His own, so we deny ourselves and put the needs and interests of others ahead of our needs. There is great cost in such self-denial, and we pray for the strength of faith to pay it.
WE PRAY: Take what is already Your own, Lord, my life, my moments and days, my will and my heart. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, "Take My Life and Let It Be," which is number 783 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
1. What are you devoted to? How do you keep that devotion strong when faced with distractions?
2. How does Jesus' level of disciple commitment compare with our ideas of commitment?
3. What does taking up our cross and following Jesus look like in our day-to-day lives?
Today's Bible Readings: Micah 6-7 Acts 22
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