I Give Myself Away.....sort of

Dear Crossroads Community,

There is a song we sing at Crossroads called “I Give Myself Away.” The lyrics go like this…”Take my heart, take my life…as a living sacrifice. All my dreams, all my plans…Lord I place them in your hands. I give myself away so you can use me…”

It takes a lot of trust to sing that song…and mean it. Throughout Lent we have been talking about cultivating mindfulness. We have been practicing the presence of God. Moving towards this mindfulness is confusing in that it does require us to be intentional about our ongoing awareness of God’s presence, and at the same time simply allowing it to take root in our hearts. Yet, we find that one of the most challenging aspects of this is to become more aware of our own self-centeredness. An awareness that on this journey in the wilderness we become more and more alert (hopefully) that it isn’t all about you or me. Some of us truly come by this the hard way.

Growing mindfulness requires a sacrifice. It requires a humility that opens up space for us to love others sacrificially. It takes the emphasis off of us and places it on others. In the process of this giving up of ourselves, we potentially gain so much more. Jesus said in John 12 “ …unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (NRSV John 12:24).

This doesn’t mean we give up our dreams, hopes, plans, desires. In our mindfulness, though, we do listen for those places where God is inviting us to give up a little in order to be used. It does mean that what we desire is shaped by God’s spirit that breathes life into us.

What needs to fall away and die in order for us to give our lives so that we might be used fully? Where are those places that are rough that need to be smoothed by grace so that we can sing, “Take my heart, take my life…as a living sacrifice…”?

Let’s explore this together. We probably won’t figure it all out, but whatever we do, we will do as a community even as we sing “I give myself away…”

I hope to see you on Sunday at 5 PM. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do.

Jimmy