Take my life

Heather Allington

Heather writes for Sunday Song Book on behalf of the The Salvation Army Oshawa. As a lifelong member of the Army, she has loved these familiar - and some less familiar - songs for many years, and enjoys researching and writing about their origins. She is a wife, mother, grandmother and retired elementary school teacher who likes trying her hand at watercolour painting and poetry writing.

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 hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

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.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

This hymn of consecration was written in the Christmas season, after Frances Ridley Havergal, its author, had spent several days living in a house with ten other people. Some were not Christians at all, and others were uncommitted ones. Frances prayed, “Lord, give me all in this house,” – words that sound unusual to us today. This happened as the result of an experience Frances had earlier, in which she made a fresh consecration of herself to the Lord, following the reading of a book called All for Jesus . She said she had seen, as a flash of electric light, the necessity of full surrender to Jesus. Frances worked at witnessing to the ten people in that house, and was excited to find, at the end of the visit, that all had become fully committed Christians. She then sat down and wrote this lovely song.

Some years later, Frances was moved by her own words to stop singing in secular concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra, using her beautiful voice, and to sing only for directly religious purposes. Later, she was again motivated to give almost all her “silver and gold” to a church missionary society, keeping only two items that had special family significance.

The Consecration Hymn , as it is sometimes called, has surely inspired thousands of Christians over the years since 1874 to devote themselves, their talents and their possessions to God’s purposes for His Kingdom. We would all do well to frequently re-evaluate its meaning for us individually – a meaning that may change at different stages of our lives.