'Tis all that I can do

For whatever reason I have had the last verse from the old Isaac Watts hymn, "At the Cross" on my mind today. That verse goes:

But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe,
Dear Lord I give my self away; 'tis all that I can do.

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
and the burden of my heart rolled away;
It was there by faith, I received my sight,
and now I am happy all the day.

As I reflected on the words of this song sung many times in my youth I thought of those who I have encountered over the years who have struggled with their forgiveness. They continued to labor and grieve over past sins and transgressions. I really believe that they felt that they were either disqualified from Christian service, or that they must labor in Christian service in an attempt to make themselves "worthy" of their salvation. This song verse isn't scripture, of course, but it does a good job of summing up the heart of Christian service. We owed a debt beyond our capacity to pay, but Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross paid our debt in full. Our response is (or should be) that we give ourselves completely to Christ in gratitude for what has already been done for us. Anything less is gross ingratitude. Dear Lord, we give ourselves away. It's all that we can do.