There is a song that plays over the radio at Christmastime that for some, is very cute and sweet, for others it’s very grand and poignant, but occasionally for those such as my daughter, quite annoying. That was until Fall 2014 hit, and suddenly this song took on a whole new meaning for her.
Those who have read my series, “Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey” will be familiar with me mentioning this song in Volume One Chapter Three, and then again in Volume Five Chapter 11. While the writing of that series culminated in publishing in 2012, the discovery for me regarding this song had come in the Fall of 2007. I have come to realize that God shows people different things at different times, each when we are ready to receive them. Without this understanding, it is so easy to look at others who don’t have the same revelation and judge them for not getting with the times. So while I had tried to explain how this song touched me back in 2007, my daughter was not ready to receive that knowledge until it hit her fresh and tender this Fall.
Her revelation was combined with a second revelation that had hit her more as a rebuttal than anything new. However, rather than say “I told you so”, or “I tried to tell you in the past”, I just sat there and listened as she received a fresh revelation that no matter how small you may think a given ability, talent, gifting, or usage of a tool may be, God eagerly welcomes it when offered to Him for His glory. The choir I was part of for many years used to sing a song, “If God Can Use Anything, He Can Use Me”. It sang of Moses’ staff, of Aaron’s Rod, of David’s sling and stone, and other tools whose users had given into God’s hands to be used for His glory.
At Christmas, we sing another song, the song that first touched me in 2007 and that has now touched my daughter in 2014. We call that song, “Drummer Boy”. The lyrics are simple, but I will make them even simpler by removing the “rum pum pum” so as to get a better view of the message:
Little Drummer Boy: Lyrics by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone 1958
Come they told me, A new born King to see,
Our finest gifts we bring, To lay before the King,
So to honor Him, When we come.
Little Baby, I am a poor boy too,
I have no gift to bring, That’s fit to give the King,
Shall I play for you, On my drum?
Mary nodded, The ox and lamb kept time,
I played my drum for Him, I played my best for Him,
Then He smiled at me, Me and my drum.
The heart is said to have a rhythm like that of a drum. thump-THUMP, Thump-THUMP, and that this rhythm can be interfered with and changed by external sources such as music, exercise, shocking events, etc. It is said that one way to soothe a person’s heart is to play soft music and have them relax to get things back in proper rhythm again. The human heart at rest sounds like a drum, and that drum gets faster with exercise, stress, fear or other stimuli.
Sometimes, all we feel we have in our hands is our heart. A person might feel that they have nothing special to offer anyone, least of all the God of the Universe! But what we have to offer is the most valuable thing He has ever desired, ourselves, our very lives, our heart as we say! The second thing God desires most, is our willingness to be use by Him for His glory. All it takes is a willing heart for God to do amazing things in and through a person’s life toward those He longs to reach.
It is said that the greatest gift to mankind was the gift of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, born over 2000 years ago. But you know what the greatest gift from mankind is to God? The gift of yourself! Jesus Christ said that the greatest commandment is this, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. It doesn’t matter how talented you might think you are. It doesn’t matter how gifted you may or may not be. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how well you can express yourself. The greatest gift you could gift God is the gift of yourself, in the full totality of who you are from your toes to your head, body soul and spirit, all of you, every part of you both public and secret, visible and invisible. God says that a broken and contrite heart He will not despise.
Giving God the greatest gift He could ever ask for, requires us to recognize that we are sinful creatures undeserving of the greatest Gift God gave us so many years ago. When we recognize our unworthiness, we can repent of our sinful ways, which means to be sorrowful for breaking God’s heart and choosing to turn 180 degrees away from sinful habits and behaviour, turning toward God instead. When we truly repent from the heart, the shed Blood of Jesus Christ washes away the stains of sin and we become clothed in His righteousness, adopted into God’s family as sons and daughters. This is the gift God longs for.
All the drummer boy had was his little drum, but because it was all he had, it was the most pleasing of all the gifts in this song written in 1958. What is in your hand? Have you given God the gift He longs for the most? Are you willing to be used by Him to reach out to others He may direct you to in or out of Church walls? Even if all you have in your hand seems very small and insignificant, I would urge you this Christmas to place that at the feet of Jesus this year. Be willing to use even what little you think you have, for God’s glory in whatever small way He may see fit. Scripture says it is the small things done in secret that will be rewarded openly one day. Dont be like the third servant in the parable of the talents, who hid his single talent in the earth and refused to use it to bring his master interest. Instead, be like the servant only had two talents, and who invested them in the Kingdom equally as much as the servant with the 5 talents did. Both were rewarded when the time came for review.
For us as believers, that time for review will happen at the Bema Seat in heaven. We may never see evidence of our reward here on earth, and those who seek such earthly reward will miss out on what they could have had in heaven according to Christ’s words to the disciples. But let us serve willingly, with hearts fully given over to God and His plans and purposes, so that when the day comes and we are gathered to be with Christ in the air, we will hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord”.
Enjoy this latest rendition of “Drummer Boy” by Pentatonix:
