I’ll Offer My Heart

Each year many of us are enchanted by the idea of making New Year’s resolutions.  Whether we strive to lose weight, spend more time with our kids, or patch up that strained relationship, January reveals our highest motivation to try new things and improve on the old.  But come December, many of us find that we run out of steam to complete our resolutions somewhere around March.  At our church, our worship team leads us in a beautiful song called “The Stand” by Hillsong United.  Some of the lyrics include, “What could I say, and what could I do, but offer this heart, Oh God, completely to You?”

And then it hit me.  Could one line from a song encapsulate any and every resolution that we might list and hope to check off the following year?  What could be more important this coming year than to offer your heart to God?  We celebrated his birth during Christmas, and everything it represents-His life, His love for us, and His sacrificial death.  Have you offered your heart to God, accepting His gift of eternal life and the Holy Spirit to guide you?

For those of us who have made that initial step of faith, inviting Jesus into our heart as our personal Savior, we know that our relationship with Him does not stop there.  It is a good practice to ask ourselves, “Have I surrendered all of my heart, every day?  Am I holding anything back from the Lord, or have I offered something to Him that I’ve now revoked?”

Often times, our New Year resolutions are about trying to “fix” things in ourselves that can only come from filling the void with Jesus.  Only He can be a perfect fit.  Is there anything on your resolutions list that, at its very core, could not be resolved with offering your heart and soul to the Creator God and reestablishing a direct path from your heart to His?

The rest of this inspiring song says this: “I’ll stand, with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the one who gave it all. I’ll stand, my soul Lord to you surrendered; all I am is yours.”

What do you need to surrender today and in the coming year?  Consider offering your whole heart, surrendering it into the hands of a Savior who has proven trustworthy, and then watch his miraculous power at work in your life.