“Whatever our gifts—whether big or small, seemingly important or barely noticed, on display or done in secret—may we offer them generously to a loving Father who receives our offering with a smile. He takes great delight in us being exactly who he made us to be.” Colossians 3:17
I turned on the radio, and the Christmas carol “Little Drummer Boy” was playing. I’m particularly fond of Justin Bieber’s snappy rendition, but this one by For King and Country captured my attention as I drove home on the still-dark roads after dropping Ethan off at school. I listened to the story of the poor boy who hadn’t a valuable gift to bring to the new baby King and saw a glimmer of myself in the story. Maybe you identify with him too.
Jesus is so worthy of being honored and deserves only the most luxurious of all gifts. Yet there we stand with our wounds, our baggage, our bad habits, and our wavering faith, and still, he asks us to come. He just wants us to show up as ourselves—fully forgiven, completely accepted—and give our lives, our hands, and our hearts back to him as an offering.
So we play the drum. We paint. We fight for the weak. We build and sew and teach. We design lovely spaces and cook magnificent (or not so magnificent) meals. We start businesses, take photographs, write words, tell stories, calculate figures. We do this all because this is what makes us us. We don’t have to try to do or be what we think is expected of us; we get to be fully ourselves. We use our one-of-a-kind mix of talent, voice, community, career, culture, and time in history to share the good news of who Jesus is and what he has done for us as only we can do. We do this not for recognition or to prove our value but because it is all we have to offer, and we can’t help but bring something to the One who gives us life.
My favorite piece of the classic Christmas carol (besides the catchy pa-rum-pum-pum-pum part) comes at the end. “Then, he smiled at me,” retells the Drummer Boy. “Me and my drum.” Isn’t that amazing? A little cheesy, sure, but also true. Jesus is surrounded by precious, valuable gifts, yet he is so pleased with the humble offering of a drum solo.
Whatever our gifts—whether big or small, seemingly important or barely noticed, on display or done in secret—may we offer them generously to a loving Father who receives our offering with a smile. He takes great delight in us being exactly who he made us to be.
***
Emily Lex is a watercolor artist and author. In whatever she does, Emily’s desire is to shine a light on the beauty, goodness, and truth all around us so that we might see more clearly who God is and who we are. She resides outside the Seattle, Washington, area with her husband and four children. Connect with her at emilylex.com and on Instagram @emily.a.lex.
Her book Freely and Lightly: God’s Gracious Invitation to a Life of Quiet Confidence details Emily’s journey toward becoming the person God has created her to be. Emily’s shares the lessons she’s learned to equip and inspire you in your own spiritual walk toward a Christ-directed life filled with profound purpose and meaning.
Leave a Reply