I can give my heart

DAILY READING

Luke 2:8-20

FIELD NOTES

Based on a poem, written by Christina Rossetti in 1872, the hymn In the Bleak Midwinter imagines the moment of Christ’s birth and how a stable in the middle of the bleak winter was made holy in Christ’s birth. She asks, how can she worship Our Savior, what can she give Him? His mother Mary gives him her love, and the shepherds and wise men can give him gifts, but what can she give? In the end, she gives all that the Lord asks of her, her heart. 

In the Bleak Midwinter

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, 
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; 
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, 
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; 
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign. 
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed 
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

Angels and archangels may have gathered there, 
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; 
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss, 
worshiped the beloved with a kiss. 

What can I give him, poor as I am? 
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; 
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; 
yet what I can I give him: give my heart.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD

• What is God asking of you? What gift can you give to Christ this Christmas?

FAMILY FIELD TALK

• What gift can you give to Christ this Christmas? What gift do you think God wants you to give? 

PRAYER GUIDE

Dear God, please take my heart. It is all that I have to give. Amen.