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1. This year I stopped to contemplate the kind of gift I'd bring
To lay at the nail-scarred feet of my Gracious Heavenly King.
He's given my very life to me, and the blessings I hold dear,
But I can't come up with anything appropriate, I fear.

Every time I give Him something, He more than doubles the return...
I gave to Him my weakness, His strength He then confirmed
I have Him all my doubts and fears, the things that stood in the way
Of my daily service in His name-He made them go away.

I offered Him my feeble voice, to sing His praise in song-
He filled my heart with a melody, that will last my whole life long.
I offered Him my hands to serve, to help out those in need,
He gave me the talent to use these tools, so that I would succeed.

I gave Him my life completely, to show His light in a world of night,
He gave me a wonderful testimony, a way to share His light.
I offered Him my eyes to see all that they could take in-
He showed to me a world of fear, unhappiness and sin.

For every gift I gave to Him, He handed back to me
Instructions for their uses-endless possibility
To reach a world that needs to find the Savior that I found,
So on and on, I serve, for to Him in love I'm bound.

2. I had a professor in seminary who told us one day that there were four stages of giving, which he then proceeded to illustrate. "The first stage is like a man who stands up in church and says, 'Hey, everybody, look! I'm putting a hundred dollar bill in the offering!' The second stage is when the same man puts the hundred dollar bill in the offering but does not announce the fact. However, he makes it convenient somehow for someone to find out. The third stage is when he puts the hundred dollar bill in the offering and neither makes the announcement nor makes it convenient that someone find out. But he feels so righteous."

With that seminary professor changed the subject and started talking about something else. One of the students interrupted him, saying, "Now wait a minute, didn't you say that there were four stages of giving?" "That's right," the professor replied, "Well then, what's the fourth stage?" "Who knows?" the teacher replied.

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