The Consecration Hymnist
Frances Ridley Havergal was born in Worcestershire,
England, in 1836. Her father, an
Anglican minister, enrolled her in a Christian school where she received Christ
at age 6. She was highly intelligent,
mastering numerous languages including German, French, Italian, Latin, Greek,
and Hebrew. She found her love of the
arts to be the way which she supported herself, publishing many volumes of
poetry, composing music, and she was in great demand as a pianist and singer. Frances loved Christ, and was very active in
the Church Missionary Society – raising funds to support missions work around
the world.
Frances kept very busy with writing and singing. She turned down numerous proposals of
marriage. She loved one man very deeply,
but he was not a believer and she called off the relationship in obedience to
her Lord. She is also the author of many
hymns, including ‘Take My Life,’ ‘I Gave My Life for Thee,’ ‘Like a River
Glorious,’ and ‘Who is on the Lord’s Side?’
An Advent Sunday, December 2, 1873, Frances received a
little book entitled “All For Jesus.”
The book explained how every corner and room of a person’s life should
be consecrated to Jesus. The book moved
her deeply, and the young woman re-committed her life to her Savior, resolving
to commit her entire self to Christ. This
was a very significant moment of her life, one she called her “Consecration.”
Soon after this consecration, Frances had occasion to
share a boarding house with ten people for a few days – some of whom were not
saved, and the others not fully surrendered to Christ. Frances prayed, asking God to give her “all in
the house.” She witnessed and, after the
few days of boarding, she had the joy of seeing every person leave as
Christians, fully yielded to Christ.
That last night of her visit, Frances was so excited she couldn’t sleep
and instead wrote this hymn:
Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord to Thee.
Take my hands and let them move At the impulse of Thy
love, 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. Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be Filled with messages for
Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; Not a mite would I withhold. Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my love, my God I pour At thy feet its treasure
store.
Take myself and I will be Ever only, all for Thee. Ever only, all for thee.
Frances made a habit, every December 2nd, the
anniversary of her consecration, to revisit this hymn in her devotional
time. On one occasion, she pondered the
words, ‘Take my voice and let me sing, always, only, for my King.’ She sang frequently, including with the
London Philharmonic, but from that moment on, she only sang for Christ. On another occasion, she prayed over the
words ‘Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.’ Over the years, she had accumulated a fair
bit of jewelry, but she felt very convicted that those pieces, too, should go
to her Savior. She packed a box with all
her jewelry and mailed it along with an expensive jewelry cabinet to her
beloved Church Missionary Society, saving for herself only a brooch that
belonged to her parents and a small locket with a picture of a niece who had
passed away at a young age. Writing to a
friend, she said about this, “I had no idea I had such a jeweler’s shop; nearly
fifty articles are being packed off. I
don’t think I need to tell you I never packed a box with such pleasure.”
Frances passed away unexpectedly in 1879, at the young
age of 42 – a shining example of a consecrated life. Her poetry continued to be published for over
30 years after her death, selling over 4 million volumes. Many of her hymns continue to be published in
many languages to this day.
Morgan, Robert J., Then Sings My Soul, Nelson Publishers,
2003.
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