“Quarters of the Heart”

    

     What do you give to someone -Someone - who has everything?

     "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1).

     Several years ago, my grandson Jackson answered this question for me.  After spending the weekend with us, Jackson, then 5 years old, walked up to me as he left to go home.  He stuck out his hand, in which he held a quarter.  "Grandaddy," he said, "I want you to have this."  Jackson uttered the words with such sincerity and feeling that the moment remains one of most blessed experiences of my life.  "Why thank you, Jackson!" I responded, taking the coin that in monetary terms these days can't buy much.  The quarter gave more than much, however, and I realized that my grandson had illustrated one of life's most important truths in the most emotionally vivid terms.

     "The Lord taketh pleasure in His people" (Psalm 149:4).

    We cannot give things to God.  They belong to Him already.  Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ do, however, possess the capacity to give quarters of the heart, as it were, to the One whose heart is so worthy of reception and pleasure.  When we respond to our Heavenly Father by faith, loving Him in response to His love for us, and loving people as the fruit of God's presence in our hearts, we give gifts to the One who has everything. We express "I want You to have this, Lord" as we trust and obey His Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, or as we offer praise and thanksgiving for the wonders of God's love, or as we sacrifice ourselves by that love for the benefit of others, or as we simply realize and appreciate the goodness of our blessed Lord.  Our spirits are full of quarters.  The joy I felt in receiving my grandson's offering pales in response to the pleasure known by the Lord when we place in His hand a gift so simple, yet so consequential and profound.

   Interestingly, Jackson handed me a quarter minted in the year of his birth.  He didn't know this, but the fact made his gift all the more personal and meaningful.  In similar manner, you and I have personalized quarters to offer the Lord, gifts of the heart that no one else can bestow.  We each have different personalities, histories, and experiences that constitute our hearts in a unique spiritual composition and quality.  Thus, I cannot offer your quarters.  You cannot offer mine.  "I want You to have this, Lord."  We can give something to the One who has everything, something infinitely more real and glorious than things.  We can give quarters of the heart, personally minted expressions of grateful love that no one else can offer.  We can do so in this moment, in fact…

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name.  Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."

(Psalm 29:2)

"I will freely sacrifice unto Thee, I will praise Thy name, o Lord, for it is good."

(Psalm 54:6)

"O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to Thee forever!"

(Psalm 30:12)

"The prayer of the upright is His delight."

(Proverbs 15:8)

"I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

(Psalm 34:1)

Weekly Memory Verse

   I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for Thou Lord only makest me dwell in safety. 

(Psalm 4:8)