707 Take My Life and Let it Be

The hymn writer had served The Lord for many years.  One day in 1873, she received a little book entitled "All for Jesus." The challenge in the book was to make Christ the king in every part of your life. It was on December 2, 1873 that Frances Havegal consecrated her life completely to Jesus.  She proclaimed, "There must be full surrender before there can be full blessedness."

Years later she was talking about that night.  She saw the blessedness of true consecration.  She reported seeing it "...as a flash of electric light...which you can never un-see."  Later she was spending time with a group of 10 people, some of them unconverted.  She went to work witnessing to all until they were yielded Christians.  It was after that excitement that she wrote this text. 

After its writing, Frances very often used the verses of this hymn in her own devotion, especially every December 2.  On one occasion, she pondered the words, "Take my voice and let me sing/Always only for my King."  She felt like she needed to give up her secular singing.  She had a beautiful singing voice and was in demand to sing in the Philharmonic.  After that time, she used her voice exclusively to songs devoted to praising the Lord. 

On another occasion she was praying over the words that said, "Take my silver and my gold/Not a might would I withold." She had accumulated a great deal of jewlery but she wanted to donate it to the Church Missionary Society.  She retained only a brooch which was a memorial to her parents. She had more than 50 articles of jewelry and when she prepared them for donations, she told a friend, "...I never packed a box with such pleasure."