What Shall I Render to My God?

What shall I render to my God
For all His mercy’s store?
I’ll take the gifts He hath bestowed,
And humbly ask for more.

The sacred cup of saving grace
I will with thanks receive,
And all His promises embrace,
And to His glory live.

My vows I will to His great Name
Before His people pay,
And all I have, and all I am,
Upon His altar lay.

Thy lawful servant, Lord, I owe
To Thee whate’er is mine,
Born in Thy family below,
And by redemption thine.

Thy hands created me, Thy hands
From sin have set me free,
The mercy that hath loosed my bands
Hath bound me fast to Thee.

The God of all redeeming grace
My God I will proclaim,
Offer the sacrifice of praise,
And call upon His Name.

Praise Him, ye saints, the God of love,
Who hath my sins forgiven,
Till, gathered to the church above,
We sing the songs of Heaven.

Charles Wesley

“What is enough? How do I know if I’m doing enough?” was a question a good friend asked me over coffee and a cake toward the end of last year.  It’s a natural question.  When we look at how much God has done for us, the question arises ‘what can i do in return?’

There is nothing that we can do – nothing! – to repay what God has done for us. In essence that very thought is the source of all sin: what can I do to take the place of God?  We are sinful creatures to our core, even in accepting God’s Grace, so as we display our sin we also all the more give evidence of the lavishness of God’s Glory in His redeeming Grace.

We can do nothing – not words, deeds, motivations; not in sacrificing belongings, ambitions or even our lives – that would be a fit price to repay God so that he must accept us.  That which is a correct response is a life of gratitude and humility.  That life is neatly summed up in this hymn – our response to grace is to take it more and more and in doing so look forward to the Great Day of Salvation when we will sing to God, by His Grace, of His great Glory.

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:6-7